Law and Order Shreveport
by kjwrit
Summary: AH/AU Sookie is the ADA working on an important case that she's unknowingly tied to. Eric is the lead detective. Can they work together or will their first encounter get in the way?
1. Adonis

**A/N: I couldn't get the idea of Eric in SWAT gear out of my head so I decided to write my own story to "see" him in it. I plan on alternating POV's between Sookie and Eric. This is my first fan fic so reviews and constructive critism is welcome. This story is rated M because, let's face it, Eric in SWAT gear deserves lemons. :)**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns all of these wonderful characters, so if I can't have Eric I'd be more than happy to have ASkars if he's game.**

CHAPTER 1 - Adonis

**SPOV**

I walked into my office bright and early like always. I worked for the Shreveport Prosecutor's Office and as the Assistant District Attorney I felt as though I should set a good example by being the first one in the office every morning, and more often than not, the last one to leave at night. There was always plenty of work to do and it's not like I had much of a social life, at least not anymore.

I had been dating one of my co-workers, Bill Compton, for a few months. He's the IT guy in our building and after numerous invitations to dinner from him I finally accepted. He had dark good looks and oozed southern charm. I didn't have a lot of dating experience and I fell for him quickly. It was our six month anniversary and I had come back from a conference in New Orleans a day early to surprise him. I was devastated when I walked in on him having sex with Lorena, the office tramp. He begged and pleaded with me to give him another chance, but there was no way I could forget the image of him on top of her, tangled in the sheets I had bought the week before! It didn't make it any easier when Lorena told the whole office how she and Bill had been together for weeks but didn't know how to break it to me. I was broken hearted and ashamed that I never suspected a thing.

That was three months ago. Looking back there were signs that something was going on. He would disappear sometimes during the day, or have to work late some nights, but if I would try to call him he would never pick up. I would catch him having whispered conversations on his cell phone, and sometimes he would look at me in an odd sort of way when he thought I wasn't looking. He always had an excuse and being blinded by first time love I overlooked it.

Growing up, I never dated much because I always put my studies and education before anything else. My parents had both been lawyers and my father was the District Attorney here in Shreveport when I was young. They were killed when their car ran off a bridge one night during a storm. I was seven and my brother Jason was ten. We went to live with our Gran and she raised us in her home in Bon Temps, a small town about an hour north of Shreveport. When she died last year, she had left the house to me since Jason had moved into our parent's home when he turned 20. Even though I have a condo in Shreveport I couldn't bear the thought of selling it so I use it mainly on weekends or whenever I need to get away.

After the whole Bill fiasco I stayed there for a week crying my eyes out and eating chocolate. I pulled it together when I imagined what Gran would've said if she saw me like that. She would've said, "You're pity party has lasted long enough. You're a Stackhouse, so pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and go back with your head held high. He's the one that should be ashamed, not you." So, that's what I did.

A knock on the door pulled me out of my reminiscing. It was my assistant Amelia. We both starting working here at the same time and became fast friends. She was very blunt and straight forward with everyone, whereas I was more introverted and thought carefully before I spoke,

"Ravenscroft is on line 2 for you. She sounds pissed."

Pamela Ravenscroft is the District Attorney and a real hard-ass. Her nickname is the "Ice Queen" because she comes across as cold and ruthless, which she is. She's extremely dedicated to her work and meticulous in everything she does. She expects the same of everyone else. Having worked for her for a while now I have also seen the other side of Pam. She's really very funny in a snarky sort of way, and has a weird obsession with Dear Abby. She must have quoted a hundred different "Abbyisms" to me after my break up with Bill.

"Hi Pam, what's up?"

"I just got back from the courthouse. The judge dismissed the charges in the DeCastro case because the detectives fucked up the warrant. They had the wrong fucking address on it!"

I can't believe this is happening. Pam has been working on getting Felipe DeCastro locked up for years. He's the head of a Columbian drug cartel suspected of dealing in not only drugs, but weapons as well. His operation has been going on for over twenty years, but he's always been able to stay out of the reach of law enforcement by having others do the dirty work.

"The wrong address? Are you serious? Are they incompetent? What do you need me to do?"

I could hear Pam grinding her teeth she was so pissed off. "I need you to meet with the detectives tomorrow morning and see if there's any way to try and salvage our case. They'll be at your office at 9. I have to meet with the mayor to explain why DeCastro is a free man."

"Okay, we'll figure something out ", I said hanging up. I really didn't know what we were going to do though. The raid had discovered numerous files on DeCastro's computer detailing dates and dollar amounts of shipments, locations of pick-ups, offshore bank transfers, and other files that were encrypted and hadn't been hacked into yet by our people. Without those files, we had no physical evidence tying DeCastro to any crimes.

"ARGH!", I screamed, frustrated.

Amelia poked her head in my office with her eyebrow quirked up questioningly. I explained to her what Pam had told me, and after seeing how tense I was she declared that we needed a couple of cocktails.

We headed out to a bar located a couple of blocks from the courthouse. I didn't go out much and rarely drank, but I figured I could use it knowing we had to start all over on the DeCastro case in the morning.

I was wearing a two-piece business suit consisting of a charcoal gray pencil skirt that ended just above the knee with a matching single button jacket over a cream colored camisole with black peep-toe pumps. It was warm out so I opted to leave the jacket in my car as we headed inside.

It was after 5 o'clock and the place was starting to fill up, but we lucked out and got a couple of seats at the bar. I ordered my gin and tonic while Amelia opted for a Long Island Iced Tea. My shoulders became less tense with every sip and by the end of my second drink I was feeling pretty good. There was a decent sized dance floor so I grabbed Amelia by the hand and we went to get our groove on.

I may be introverted, studious, embarrassingly modest (I would always make Bill turn out all of the lights before sex), but I knew how to shake what my momma gave me. As a "bookworm" or "nerd" growing up, I didn't have a lot of friends, so I would watch MTV after I finished my school work and mimic the dancers on the videos. In a way, I guess I "studied" that too, but it left me able to roll my hips and swing and sway my body every which way.

Amelia and I were bumping and grinding and shimmying and shaking in time with the music. As I turned my eyes were drawn over to the bar where a blond Adonis stood looking right at me. My eyes started low over his black motorcycle boots, up to his dark wash low slung jeans. His legs went on forever. He must be at least 6'4 or 6'5. He had his elbows resting on the bar behind him making his biceps pull the fabric of his fitted black t-shirt tighter around his arms and caused it to ride up a little in the front revealing six-pack abs and the hint of a well defined v cut down into his jeans. His chest was broad and his body was lean. But, once I got to his face is when my breath hitched and my heart sputtered. He was simply beautiful. He had a broad forehead and high cheekbones with a well defined jaw. His hair was blonde and thick and fell in waves down to his shoulders. His eyes were blue like the ocean in the Caribbean and were presently smoldering at me keeping me from looking anywhere else.

I'm not sure how long I stood like that with my mouth hanging open (Gran called it catching flies), but I eventually came around when Amelia noticed I had stopped dancing and asked what was wrong. I couldn't find the words to answer so I just continued to stare at the Adonis. She followed my gaze and I wanted to ask her if she could see him too, because surely I must be hallucinating. No man could be that good looking, right?

"Holy shit Sook, that guy is HOT! Why don't you go talk to him? He certainly can't take his eyes off of you. Find out if he's got a brother for me," she snickered.

Adonis took that moment to stand up and walk towards me. Amelia made herself scarce, but I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot I was standing on, caught in his stare. It was like I had tunnel vision and everyone around us disappeared, leaving just the two of us standing here alone.

He stood before me and raised his hand, running the tips of his fingers from my temple to my jaw. I found myself leaning into his hand, comforted by his touch. He grabbed one of my hands in his and wrapped the other arm around me with his hand resting on the small of my back. We started moving in time with the music, although I couldn't tell you what was playing. Our bodies molded together seamlessly as though we'd done this a thousand times, our eyes never leaving each other. The longer we danced the more my girly bits were begging for him. I could tell he was feeling the same by what I felt pressed up against my stomach, and from what I could felt he had a gracious plenty.

His hand left mine and ran down the side of my body, barely caressing the side of my breast causing me to gasp and press myself tighter against him. His other hand left my back and wandered down to my ass, pulling me towards him while his lips found mine. He started slowly, ghosting his lips over mine, tracing my lower lip with his tongue. When he ran his hand over my ass more forcefully, gripping it tighter, I gasped. He took the opportunity to dive into my mouth with his tongue, both of us battling for dominance. I wound my fingers through his hair at the back of his neck and held him to me with everything I had. He broke the kiss when we needed to breathe, running his lips and tongue along my jaw to a spot right behind my ear that made my panties go from damp to drenched in seconds.

I was overcome with desire and grabbed his hand pulling him towards the back of the bar and into what turned out to be a storeroom. As soon as the door shut behind me he had me pinned against the door with his body kissing me for all he was worth. His hands ran under my top where he pinched my already hard nipples through my bra causing me to moan into his mouth, while his hips were grinding into mine. He pushed my shirt up over my breasts and kissed his way down, lightly biting them through the fabric. I raked my hands down his back and up his front desperate for more of him. I unbuttoned his jeans and his erection sprang free. He was going commando! I wrapped my hand around his shaft and stroked my hand up over the tip, rubbing his juices back down over and over, making him groan against my chest. Suddenly my skirt was up around my waist and my panties were ripped from my body. His fingers trailed over my slit, slick from my juices, and plunged two of them inside of me. I cried out and rocked my hips forward, pushing down on his hand wanting more. He kept going, adding his thumb to my clit rubbing it in tortuous circles, my inner walls gripping his fingers.

He captured me in his gaze once again and growled, "Come for me lover."

And I did. He kept pumping his fingers into me drawing it out before removing his hand. I whimpered at the loss of him until I heard a ripping sound. He had pulled a condom out of his pocket and rolled it down over his rock hard length. He cupped my ass with one hand, pulling me up, and braced himself against the door with his other hand. He slowly rubbed the tip of his cock in my juices before plunging into me all the way to the hilt. I screamed out in pleasure, never feeling so full in my life.

"Fuck. You're so tight", he whispered into my neck. I wrapped my legs around his waist and met him thrust for thrust. He plowed into me over and over. He adjusted his stance and hit my g-spot with his new angle causing my whole body to shudder and convulse around him, ripping the orgasm from my very soul.

He thrust into me once, twice and came with a deafening roar deep inside of me.

My whole body felt like jelly and we stayed wrapped up in each other pressed against the door feeling the aftershocks from both of our bodies before he pulled out of me and set my feet on the ground.

It was then that my sanity came back to me. What did I just do? Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! I don't do this sort of thing. I don't have one night stands, nameless sex. Hell, I've only ever been with one other guy.

Mortified, I pulled my shirt down and smoothed my skirt out. I felt the telltale blush blooming under my skin at the thought of what he must think of me. I couldn't even bring myself to look him in the eye. I mumbled out "I have to go" and took off like a shot through the door and didn't stop until I was in my condo.

What did I do?

**So, what do you think? Should I continue?**


	2. Sunshine

**A/N: I want to thank everyone that left reviews and/or alerts and favorites for this story. I am truly humbled. While Eric's POV overlaps the previous *ahem* encounter with Sookie, I wanted his intentions out there. I'll try not to overlap too much with their alternating POV's.**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns all of the characters, but I'm not too proud to admit that Eric owns me.**

CHAPTER 2 - Sunshine

**EPOV**

"What do you mean the case got dismissed?" I yelled into the phone. This was bullshit! We worked on that prick DeCastro for months, finding informants, following leads left and right only to wind up at a dead end. We had taps on his phones, tracked him everywhere he went outside of his compound, and followed his goons all over the city. We lucked out when we finally picked up a conversation between DeCastro and an unknown associate. Honestly, he sounded like some smarmy sounding asshat. When said asshat mentioned hacking into the Barksdale AFB armory database and emailing the records to DeCastro like he requested, DeCastro blew a fuse yelling about unsecure phone lines and hung up on a now stuttering asshat, but it was all we needed to get a warrant to get in and seize his computer.

The lieutenant replied, "The case got dismissed. Something about the wrong address was on the warrant used. You and your partner are to report to the ADA tomorrow morning at 9 to try and find a way around this clusterfuck."

"Fine!" I growled and hung up. I looked across my desk at my partner Alcide Herveaux's expression of disbelief.

"Dismissed?" he asked, his eyebrows nearly in his hairline.

"Dismissed," I sighed running my hands through my hair. I dug through the piles on my desk and pulled out the DeCastro file, flipping pages until I came to the copy of the warrant. Unfuckingbelievable. Sure enough, the house number on the warrant was wrong. The numbers should have been 7132 but were 7123 on the warrant.

"I can't fucking believe this. The numbers were transposed on the warrant so the evidence is out the window and the case was dismissed. We have to meet with the fucking ADA tomorrow morning at 9 to figure out what we're gonna do."

Alcide's eyebrows had still not come down yet. "What the fuck? Shouldn't the DA or the ADA have noticed the fucking wrong address on the warrant when they got it for us? They should fix this shit. We already did our job."

That's both the good thing and bad thing about Alcide. He thinks a lot like me, so we're always on the same page. I was thinking the same fucking thing. But both of us being all wound up and hostile was a bad thing. At least it was bad as long as we were in the office.

"Fuck it. Let's go get a drink." With that, we grabbed our shit and left.

We ended up at a bar near the courthouse. It was already pretty crowded when we got there, but we're both big and intimidating so it didn't take much for us to claim a couple of spots up at the bar.

"So, do you know this ADA we're supposed to meet with tomorrow?" Alcide asked.

I'd only ever dealt with the DA, Pam Ravenscroft. She's more like Pam RavingBitch. Talk about a hardass. I thought she was hot when I first met her, but her nonexistent personality killed that. I heard she swung the other way anyway. I'll be the first to admit that I've never had trouble getting any woman I wanted, but my ego felt a little better thinking it was her preference for women and not me that didn't get her falling all over herself around me.

I turned 30 last year and something inside me changed. I'd never been in a relationship before and never wanted one. I was perfectly content to wine and dine them, fuck them and leave them. Hell, sometimes I didn't even bother with the wining and dining. But last year it hit me. I wanted to find the one woman I wanted to spend my life with. I didn't think it would be as hard as it's been to find her. It seemed like the women were either sexy but stupid, or smart but fugly. Why couldn't I find smart AND sexy?

Hell, maybe she doesn't exist. I had stopped my womanizing ways a year ago, and had gone out on a couple of dates, but told myself I wouldn't fuck them if I didn't see it going anywhere. Needless to say, Eric Jr. has been quite lonely and I check the palm of right hand often to make sure there's no hair growing on it.

The expectant look on Alcide's face reminded me we were having a conversation. "No, I don't know the ADA. I think her name is Stackhouse. Hopefully she's not as frigid as the Ice Queen, but more than likely she's a RavingBitch clone."

Alcide lost all interest in our conversation when some chick in her now unbuttoned down to her cleavage business attire rubbed up against him at the bar and started batting her eye lashes at him.

A couple of decent prospects were giving me the eye from the other end of the bar, but I could tell from where I was neither one would be more than a fuck for me. Since that wasn't an option to me anymore I ignored them. I really did want more than that. I wanted someone to come home to, to spend my life with, to have children with.

Christ! Good thing no one around here can read minds because they'd think I was a total pussy.

I heard Alcide spinning his tales of heroism and danger as a police detective and SWAT team member, as we both were, but he was definitely embellishing the truth. I turned away from them to hide my smirk and faced the dance floor.

She appeared in the middle of the crowd. It almost seemed as if she was glowing from the inside, pouring out sunshine. Her long blond hair had been pulled back into a bun that she just released, shaking out her golden waves as she dipped and rocked her hips, swaying with the music. The men around her were checking her out but she was oblivious to it, dancing with her girlfriend. Her legs were long and tan, her waist was small and her hips and ass had all of the right curves. I hate feeling nothing but bone when I touch a woman. Her chest was bouncing with the rest of her body and I could tell she had a natural bounty. God and genetics had certainly been good to this girl.

I continued to watch mesmerized by her every move, every expression across her face. She was feeling the beat and concentrating on moving with her friend, pulling her lower lip into her mouth whenever she really got into it. She spun around and looked up at the bar where she saw me staring at her. I watched her eyes drink me in working her way from my feet up. When she got to my face I saw her gasp and she'd stopped dancing, just staring at me with her mouth open a little.

I was walking across the dance floor to her before I'd even realized I'd stood up. On instinct I reached out and trailed my fingers along the side of her face, feeling her heat when she pressed into my hand.

The next thing I know I have her hand in mine, her body against me, and we're swaying with the music. Everything about her seems familiar, like my body recognizes her scent, her touch, even if my mind doesn't. I can't stop looking into her eyes, as blue as the summer sky, when I lean forward and brush my lips across hers, tasting her because I find I can't help myself.

She tasted amazing, like the sweetest honey, and I found myself gripping her ass and pressing her into my straining erection while simultaneously devouring her mouth with mine.

Her fingers wound through my hair pulling my face closer to hers, giving back everything I was trying to give her. My lips trailed along her jaw and settled on a spot just below her ear when I felt her body tense. I was about to apologize thinking I had crossed the line when her hand grabbed mine and she led me to a storeroom in the back of the bar.

As soon as the door clicked shut I had her up against it, pinning her body with mine, clamping my mouth over hers. Even though I was so much taller than her, she fit me perfectly. I felt her nipples harden against my chest and I pushed her shirt up so I could worship them with my mouth. I literally wanted to bite her, fuck her, and rub myself all over her claiming her as MINE.

The noises she was making were making my already tight pants tighter. She must have sensed my need because she unbuttoned my pants and finally Eric Jr. was free, jumping out at her begging for attention. She wrapped her small hand around my shaft and stroked me up and down. It took all I had not to come right then and there, but I'll be damned if she didn't come first.

I pushed her skirt up around her waist and ripped the tiny scrap of fabric that was her panties away from her body. I ran my fingers along her entrance testing her readiness. Fuck, she was so wet. I plunged two fingers inside of her, pumping them in and out while she pushed down onto my hand riding it herself. I could feel her inner muscles gripping my fingers so I curved them while circling her clit with my thumb. The look on her face, hooded and full of lust was simply stunning. I looked in her eyes and commanded, "Come for me lover."

The emotions that played across her face and the sounds she made left me nearly undone. I drew out her orgasm until I couldn't take it anymore and pulled my fingers out of her in search of my "Just in case" condom. I ripped it open and rolled it on as fast as I could and lifted her up to the right height. The heat was pouring out of her along with her juices and after just teasing her for a minute with the tip I buried myself into her in one thrust.

I think she screamed out, but I can't be sure. I was lost in my own sensory overload. Fuck. She was so hot and so tight. I may have told her that, but again, I can't be sure. I pumped in and out of her trying to do everything I could to prolong the moment. I'd never felt anything like this before. She was physically perfect for me. I lifted her a bit and changed my angle when I knew I hit "the spot". Her whole body started trembling and her arms and legs constricted around me when she screamed out in ecstasy, her inner walls clamping down on me, pulling my own orgasm out from what felt like the tips of my toes.

We stayed that way for a few minutes until our breathing and heart rates slowed down. I pulled out of her and made sure she was steady on her feet. I was trying to come up with a way to ask her out to dinner with me, feeling nervous about a girl for the first time since I was a teenager. I already knew I liked her A LOT, and it wasn't just the amazing sex. There was something about her that screamed "She's the one!" to me. When I finally got the nerve to say something I heard her mumble something and run out the door like she was on fire. What the fuck?

I stood there stunned. I noticed her torn panties lying on the floor and I picked them up and put them in my pocket. When I went back into the bar she was already long gone. I had to find out who she was. I looked around for her friend, but she must've left too. While the bartender remembered her (who wouldn't), he didn't know her name or anything else.

GOD DAMNIT! I'm a detective for christsakes. I'll find her.

**Next up...the meeting! *doink doink***


	3. Manners

**A/N: I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I want to thank everyone again that has reviewed/alerted/favorited this story. I've tried to respond to every review but some of you have the PM feature disabled on your account. Know that I am grateful for your responses. I've been able to find the time to write here and there, but I do work full time and have to feed those pesky kids every now and then, so I doubt I'll be able to update daily as I have been. I'll do my best though.**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns these characters, but I own a coffee mug that says "_I like my vampires tall, blonde, & viking._" (Ain't it the truth).**

Chapter 3- Manners

**SPOV**

I woke up the next morning still feeling flustered about the night before. I can't believe I did that! Gran would be rolling in her grave if she saw how I acted. I don't know what came over me, but there was no use getting upset about it. I never saw "Adonis" before and I would probably never see him again. I'll just chalk it up to "one of those things" or "lessons learned" or whatever it is people tell themselves to feel better about their wrong doings.

I arrived at the office early the next morning and found Bill of all people at my desk.

"What are you doing Bill?"

"There were some system upgrades done and I was just making sure your computer had the new downloads."

Seeing him still made my heart ache a little bit. I was more on the angry side of the post-break up spectrum than the hurt side, but he had been my first.

"Fine. Are you done?" I snapped. Yep, definitely still angry.

"Sookie, I know you still want me. I'm sorry about the whole Lorena thing, but she meant nothing to me. Let me take you out to dinner tonight."

Was he serious? I SO did not still want him. Being with "Adonis" last night was starting to look like a better idea than I had previously thought.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear. I. DO. NOT. WANT. YOU. I've already moved on to something BIGGER and BETTER. LITERALLY. Now get out of my office." Childish, I know, but what can I say? Seeing him brings out the bitch in me.

Amelia picked that moment to poke her head in the doorway. When she saw Bill she made an audible gagging noise with the matching facial expression.

I couldn't help myself and giggled. Then she opened her mouth.

"Hey Sook! What happened to you yesterday? You disappeared with that blonde God of a man you were dancing with and I couldn't find you. One minute you're stuck to him like white on rice and the next minute you're both gone like the wind," she finished turning towards Bill with a huge grin on her face.

I can't lie, I did enjoy the look of murderous jealousy on Bill's face, but I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as I blushed thinking about what DID happen.

They were both standing there looking at me waiting for a response.

"Goodbye Bill. Amelia, could you please bring me the case file for my 9 o'clock meeting?"

Call me a coward, but I was SO not discussing that with Bill there. I wasn't even sure I could tell Amelia all of the details. I usually told her everything, but this was so out of character for me I didn't know if I could speak the words out loud to anyone.

Bill stomped out of my office and Amelia gave me one last look that said I had a reprieve for now but she would be getting the details out of me sooner or later.

She brought me the DeCastro file and thankfully left without another word. Opening the thick file I started going over everything to see if something was missed.

I must have lost track of the time because the next thing I know there was a knock on my door and a tall dark haired linebacker of a man was walking in.

Stopping in front of my desk with his hand held out he said, "Ms. Stackhouse, I'm Detective Alcide Herveaux. I believe we have a 9 o'clock meeting to go over the DeCastro case."

His hand swallowed mine as we shook and I noticed he was paying more attention to my breasts than anything else. It figures, most of the cops I've come across think they're God's gift to women. Not that I have anything against a man in uniform, what red blooded American girl does? It's the cocky bastards I can't stand.

Having had enough of the ogling I snatched my hand back and said, "Yes, we do. Where's Detective", I had to look back at the file to find his name, "Northman? He was supposed to attend this meeting as well so we can try to find a way around this mess you two have gotten us in."

Apparently I was still in full bitch mode. This morning was turning to shit quick. First Bill, and now getting eye fucked by some cretin detective while his sorry ass partner couldn't even grace us with his presence, all to fix a problem they should have caught to begin with. I was channeling my inner Pam.

I had just finished spitting out the words when he appeared in my doorway. Adonis.

This can't be happening. Maybe I'm hallucinating? Maybe I'm still asleep and this is some weird ass dream? I pinched myself hard. Nope, not dreaming.

"Uh…" I tried to get my brain to make my mouth work, but it just wasn't happening. Amelia appeared off to the side and behind him mouthing what appeared to be "No fucking way." I tried again.

"Uh…can I help you?"

I watched the emotions play across his face. Surprise, followed by...I wasn't sure. Whatever it was it quickly turned to darkening anger.

"I'm Detective Northman. Apparently I'm here to listen how my partner and I are such fuck-ups and wait for you to work your magic and save the day" he barked at me.

That's all it took to get my mouth working again. How DARE he bark at me over something I had NOTHING to do with. HE should have checked the warrant. If he'd left that job to his partner, he more than likely was distracted by a pair of nearby breasts because his eyes had yet to leave mine!

"That's right. You two fucked up. Now if you don't mind," I looked at Detective Herveaux, "YOU stop looking at my breasts," then looking back to Adonis, I mean Detective Northman, "and YOU have a seat."

Detective Northman's head whipped around to look at Detective Herveaux and I could swear he growled. Huh.

This was so unfair. Detective Northman was my Adonis. Ugh…how could I feel so angry at him and yet so turned on by him at the same time? My memory didn't do him justice. He was even better looking than I remembered, and it was just last night. His hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck with a leather tie and he hadn't shaved this morning. He was wearing fitted black slacks and a royal blue button-down shirt having left the top two buttons undone. I had to consciously keep my hands at my sides lest they reach out to caress his spectacular ass on their own. This was my first view of what my hands had been gripping last night. Jesus Christ Sheppard of Judea, what's wrong with me?

Looking back to me he said, "Please."

"Excuse me?"

"You didn't say please. You said 'have a seat.' Do you not have any manners? You know, 'please' and 'thank you'," he seethed.

Oh. No. He. Didn't.

Being a lawyer, I have a natural inclination to become argumentative. While I'm naturally introverted and shy, I tend to wear my big girl panties, so to speak, when I'm working. I contemplated a few snarky, bitchy replies that would no doubt prolong this particular conversation until one of us resorted to using "nanny nanny boo boo" and sticking out our tongue. I would be the bigger 'man' and let it go.

"Please, Detective Northman, have a seat." I couldn't stop glaring at him. Those eyes, they were so blue. I forced myself to look at his partner, who unfortunately had moved his eyes from my breasts to my ass. Ugh. I sat down.

"I was going over the DeCastro case file this morning trying to find a way to get the evidence back in," I started. "The judge dismissed the charges against DeCastro without prejudice, so we can re-file them if we come up with a way to lead us back to those computer records. Our probable cause had been the telephone call to DeCastro's private line, right?"

He was still glaring. "Yes."

Great, one word answers. This is going to take all day if he doesn't grow up already.

Using a tone better suited to explaining to a 3 year old why we must not flush hot wheels down the toilet to wash them, I asked "Well, do you have your notes? Maybe there's some other way we can get the evidence in."

Northman's brow wasn't quite as furrowed then. "How?"

Really? Still with the one word answers?

"Those records and emails originated from somewhere. I know our tech people weren't able to hack into all of the encrypted ones prior to the dismissal, but the warrants for his phone taps were valid so we can poor over those conversations and see if there are any clues we might have missed the first time. We'll look for another way in."

I kept saying 'we' so they would know I wanted us to work as a team.

His face softened even more as he sat there in thought.

After contemplating for a few moments he said, "I don't have the notes with me. I was only here for the ass chewing. And quite frankly, I still don't see how WE," he motioned between him and Detective Herveaux, "were the fuck ups. WE called YOUR office for the warrant. YOUR office is the one that wrote it up for the judge's signature. YOUR office, not OURS."

I guess he wasn't feeling my 'team' spirit yet. His tone was somewhat softer than earlier, but he still managed to raise my hackles. I wanted to either slap him or kiss him, maybe both.

Taking a slow, deep breath, I dug through our file. All warrants are submitted electronically where the court clerks print them off for the judge's review/signature. The electronic submission automatically kicks back a carbon copy to our office. Pulling it out I looked down and saw that the correct house number had been submitted for the warrant. The clerk can make changes to the warrant if a judge chooses to approve some portions of the requested warrant and not allow others. It must have been an error on their end which is why the police officers executing the warrant should double check the information prior to executing said warrant.

I put on my best smug look and handed it to him, resisting the urge to stick out my tongue with an added, "So there!".

As he read it over his forehead smoothed out, the lines of anger disappearing all together. "I'm sorry. We put in a lot of man hours on this case. DeCastro has been the most sought after collar of our department for the last twenty years. We have guys that retired years ago that still call up occasionally asking if we're any closer to getting him yet. He's become the 'Moby Dick' of the Shreveport PD."

His face took on the look of a remorseful boy with his lower lip pouting out just a hair and all thoughts went to wondering if he still tasted as good as I remembered. I could feel the drool pooling in my mouth. Focus Stackhouse!

Swallowing, I replied," Thank you Detective Northman. Let's just move on and find a way to make this work." Pulling up my calendar I asked, "When would be a good time to meet up to go through your notes?"

Looking back to him I noticed him turning back from Detective Herveaux and he said, "It's Eric."

His expression went from remorseful to sultry. Oh my.

He continued, "Are you free this afternoon? I have some other appointments and meetings today, but I could meet you for lunch somewhere. It'll be my treat to make up for being an ass."

A lopsided grin appeared on his face and I swear my heart stopped.

"Please." I couldn't help myself.

"What?"

"Please. You know, manners?" I felt the corners of my mouth twitch up.

His grin was still there. "Please? How about I meet you at Lafayette's Diner at noon? The house burger is to die for. It's two blocks north of the station." The grin turned into a sexy as hell smirk.

"Uh…okay." Eloquent. Maybe I needed to get a word-a-day calendar to beef up my vocabulary.

They both stood and held out their hands in turn for me to shake them. I noticed Detective Herveaux had looked at everything but me, which was fine by me. When I shook Detective Northman's hand, Eric's hand, I felt an electrical charge as soon as his skin made contact with mine. I looked up into his eyes and watched them darken the slightest bit. Not in an angry way, but in my hopeful mind, a lustful way.

His voice dropped an octave and my panties dampened when he said, "Until then," and out the door they went.

**Awww, their first fight. Maybe it's a prelude to make-up sex! Or, not. Sookie can't be slutting it up so much, at least not so soon (uh, again**).** I'm sure I've taken some liberties with the applicable laws and how warrants are obtained, but this is fiction. I don't claim to be a lawyer or a detective, but I play one on the internet. :) I'm pretty sure the CSI's in Las Vegas can't interview murder suspects, but I put that thought aside and just enjoy the show. Hopefully everyone can do the same with my story.**

**Please press the blue button and let me know what you think. It's blue like Eric's eyes...*swoon***


	4. Breach, Bang, and Clear

**A/N: I gotta say, you guys are great. I'm very excited that so many of you like the dribble that poors out of my brain. On with the show! *doink doink***

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them, but I own an Eric Northman poster and my kids think his name is "Om Nom Nom" because that's what I say when I look at it. (It's true! I overheard them telling their friends! LMAO)**

Chapter 4 - Breach, Bang, and Clear

**EPOV**

I can't believe the ADA on this case is my mystery girl from last night. I didn't want to shower after getting home last night just to keep her scent on me, afraid I'd never smell it again. I even left the shirt I'd been wearing out of the hamper so I could smell it, yet again, when I go home.

How could I be so whipped so soon? A quick mental review of the two of us in that storeroom last night answered that question.

When I heard her telling Alcide we had fucked up the case, I was ready to light into her as soon as I went through the doorway. That is, of course, until I saw her. She didn't speak the night before other than whatever it was she mumbled before running away, so I didn't recognize her voice.

I had the same reaction seeing her this morning as I did last night. To me, she literally glowed like the sun. I felt a connection that I couldn't explain.

I could see the shock on her face as well, but my anger was quick to return. By then, I think it had more to do with the fact that she left me last night than what she was saying now.

I'm sure I came across as a petulant child, but I have to admit she was able to keep up her business persona. Smart and sexy. I finally found her.

The name plate on her office door said "Sookie Stackhouse." Hmm…Sookie. I had no doubts that I would be moaning out that name in the near future, hopefully with her there underneath me, on top of me, bent over in front of me.

Coming out of my lustful daydreams I could faintly hear Alcide saying something.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

Smirking at me he repeated, "I said, what's up with you and the ADA? Yesterday you said you didn't know who she was, but I got the feeling something was going on between the two of you. I'm a detective. I notice those things." He was wearing his shit eating grin.

Alcide had disappeared along with the chick at the bar by the time I'd come back, so he wasn't there to witness my sudden stupor or mini-breakdown when Sookie had vanished. Looking back it's a good thing he was already gone.

Normally I tell Alcide everything. We're partners, we have no secrets. I trust him with my life and he trusts me with his. But, for some reason, I didn't want to share Sookie with him. At least not yet. When she told him to stop staring at her breasts it took everything I had not to punch him square in the face. She was MINE, at least in my mind. She had yet to agree to that statement, but I would definitely be putting in the effort with her to make that statement a fact.

"I didn't know her before today," _as the ADA_ I added silently to myself. Not an outright lie I internally justified.

"Well she's one hot piece of ass. Do you want to hit the gym before we meet her for lunch?"

I bit back the growl currently growing in my chest. There was no fucking way he was going.

"Sure." I instantly made plans to drop a couple of free weights on him so he would be missing MY lunch date with Sookie.

We changed in the locker room and went into the gym to do our workout. Being on the S.W.A.T. team required us to stay in top physical shape. To volunteer to be on the team, you had to have been on the force for a minimum of 5 years, and pass physical agility, written, oral, and psychological tests. It definitely wasn't easy.

I climbed on to the treadmill to do my cardio and let my mind wander back to the mystery that is Sookie Stackhouse.

I started to list off in my mind what I knew about her and came to the quick revelation that it was basically, nothing.

Aside from the obvious physical attributes she possessed, all I knew was that she was a lawyer. I wondered where she'd grown up, did she have siblings, where she went to school, why she became a lawyer.

Fuck. Did she have a boyfriend? She's beautiful, how could she be single? I visualized everything I could remember from her office and didn't remember seeing any photos. If she had a boyfriend, she'd have his picture up, right? Then again, aside from glaring at Alcide, I didn't look anywhere else but at her.

I quickly dismissed the idea. She didn't seem the type that would do what she did last night with me and have a boyfriend.

Or, maybe that was wishful thinking. Fuck.

I shook the thoughts from my head and focused on running. As I was hitting the five mile mark I sensed someone approaching me from behind.

"Hey there handsome."

Felicia. She was a patrol officer that I'd had the misfortune of taking on exactly 2 dates before I realized she was a nut job. We'd only been to dinner and a movie and the next thing I know, she's telling anyone that would listen that we were getting married. The most that had happened between us was a chaste kiss on the cheek after the first date. It was during the second date that she started talking about babies and moving in together. She definitely had issues.

"What do you want Felicia?" I gruffed out at her. I had to make sure I maintained a hostile tone whenever I spoke to her or else she thought we "had gotten back together." I learned that lesson the hard way.

"I miss you," she purred. "When are you going to admit that we're meant for each other?"

Alcide heard the conversation from the weight bench and started chuckling. He chimed in, "Yeah handsome, when are you going to admit it?"

"Fuck Alcide, don't egg her on." He was in full blown hysterics by then. I decided I would drop the free weights on his dick the first chance I got.

"Go away Felicia. You're a fucking psycho bitch and if you don't stop harassing me I'm going to report you to your supervisor."

She let out a "Hmph," and sashayed away muttering something about "we'll see."

Alcide was still guffawing. "She's got it bad for you. I'm so glad it's you she's after and not me."

"Thanks asshole."

He and I switched spots and I put all of my anger into doing my reps on the weight bench. It took until my fifth set to stop plotting ways to get back at either Felicia or Alcide.

As we were finishing up in the gym a call came in about a hostage situation located in one of the housing projects downtown. Standard protocol called for the presence of the S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) E.R.T. (Emergency Response Team) team. Alc and I took off for the locker rooms to get changed into our gear. Fuck, there wasn't any time for a shower. We put on our black tactical pants, the matching long sleeve ripstop tactical shirt (thank God they're vented and light weight) and our steel toe H.R.T. boots. Whoever thought the color black was a good idea for Louisiana in the summer was an idiot. We grabbed our bullet proof vests, that had S.W.A.T. emblazened across the chest, and helmets and met up with the others in the garage all within 5 minutes of the call.

We piled into the Saracen, an armored personnel carrier capable of holding 8 officers plus a squad commander along with the driver. We had dubbed it Sara and she went on every call like this one. She has a turret on the roof that holds a Browning .30 machine gun, and a roof hatch and side ports that can be fired through from the inside. Hopefully none of that would be needed, but if we had to we could drive her right through the front door without so much as a scratch on her.

Our squad commander, Lieutenant John Quinn, briefed us on the situation. The Narcotics Division had attempted to serve an arrest warrant on a local drug dealer at his house this morning, but he barricaded himself inside and was holding his girlfriend and her two year old baby as hostages. Lovely.

Quinn, as he preferred to be called, had been a detective down in New Orleans but relocated to Shreveport about a year ago. I personally didn't like the guy. He was as tall as me, but broader in the chest, and he shaved his head bald. He was cocky, hit on every woman in sight, and he could never stand still. At every training session or call we respond to he has to pace back and forth like a caged tiger. Fucking annoying.

The house was a duplex located in a shitty part of town that was all urban decay and ruled by local gangs. Quinn passed out a basic floor plan of the house and we each went over our positions. We trained for this type of situation constantly to the point where we all reacted automatically to "Breach, Bang and Clear".

We arrived on scene within 15 minutes of the call and spread out into our positions. The hostage negotiator was attempting to get a hold of the suspect, but he wouldn't pick up the phone. I could hear the baby crying from the street and Clancy, our sniper, reported he could see the guy inside from his position on the roof across the street. The prick was holding the baby at his chest and head level and Clancy couldn't get a shot. He could also make out that he was holding a 9mm Beretta pointed at his girlfriend's head as she kneeled in front of him crying.

"Do we know who this guy is?" I asked. Our department wasn't small, but it wasn't huge either. Anybody that's been on the force for a few years gets to know who the different shitbags are in our jurisdiction.

Alcide shrugged, and Clancy came over the mic that he couldn't see his face well enough to make an ID.

Quinn came over to us from where he had been talking to the commander and told us that because of the two hostages they were going to make every attempt to talk them out peacefully and we were to stand down unless things took a turn for the worse.

This was going to be a long fucking day.

XXXXX

Three hours had passed since we had arrived on scene. The suspect had yet to communicate with us at all. Clancy reported he appeared to be getting more and more agitated, pacing back and forth from the center to the rear of the house, holding the crying baby the entire time. He had already knocked his girlfriend unconscious when she wouldn't stop screaming.

When I felt my stomach growl is when I realized I had already missed my lunch date with Sookie, and since we had left in such a hurry I didn't have my cell phone to call her. Fuck! Hopefully she would understand.

The decision was finally made for us to go in. Team A, consisting of 4 officers would be going through the front door, while Team B would go in through the back. Alcide and I were on Team B along with Chow and Quinn since Clancy was on the rooftop acting as the sniper.

The plan was for Team A to use Big Bertha, the battering ram, to go in through the front door, throwing out a flash bang into the front room. The suspect would be able to see them coming through the front window and would either become disoriented from the mini-explosion allowing them to secure him or move towards the back of the house, where we would be waiting.

Quinn did the countdown over his mic and when we heard the "GO GO GO" battle cry, all hell broke loose.

We could hear Bertha knock down the front door and the flash bang explode while we kicked the door down in the back. Chow went in first low with me right behind him using a higher stance providing him cover. Alcide and then Quinn took up the rear positions and we swept the room in every direction, perfectly synchronized so that no team member would be caught in friendly fire.

"CLEAR" was shouted over and over by every team member as we all swept our way further into the house. Once we reached a back laundry room, we discovered the suspect who was still holding the baby as a shield with the lower half of his body hidden behind a washing machine. I had the M16 strapped to my back and it would certainly shoot through the washer, but it could ricochet and hit the baby instead. I wasn't willing to take the chance.

With Chow still in front of me with his weapon drawn, I slowly lowered mine and put up my other hand palm out towards the suspect wanting him to calm down. We could still get out of this without firing a shot if we were lucky.

Now that I had a chance to see his face, I recognized him. His name was Stan Davis. To look at him you would think he was a nerd with his slim build and glasses taped together in the middle, but you would be wrong. He was street smart and was fierce in protecting his territory.

"Stan," I started out. "Why don't you put your gun down. We don't want anyone to get hurt," I tried reasoning with him.

"I can't go back to jail," he shouted. "I'll kill myself before I go back in."

Shit. His eyes had a feral look to them and I didn't think it would take much for him lose it completely. I wanted no part in helping him commit suicide by cop, especially with the baby in his arms.

"Why don't you put the baby in that laundry basket on the floor and slide him over to us? You don't want him to get hurt right?" I motioned at the basket on the floor.

He didn't say anything at first. His eyes just darted back and forth from us to the basket. I think he was really considering doing just that, until Quinn came up from behind me and started yelling at him to put down his fucking weapon getting him all riled up again. Douchebag!

"I want a deal. I'll give you my supplier, but I get a walk on the deal."

Using my most calming tone I said, "We can try to get that worked out, but you have to show some good faith and give us the baby. We'll call the DA as soon as he's safe."

He thought for a moment before responding. "You get the DA on the phone now. I want the deal in place before I do anything. Tell them they're gonna shit themselves when they hear what I gotta say."

The next thing I know I see the barrel of a gun coming up along side my head pointed at Stan while Stan's face turns into a look of shock as he starts raising his gun. I heard the blasts and then everything went black.

***peeks out from behind "Sara"* Sorry guys, but I had to do it (insert evil laugh track here). I was too impatient to get Eric in his SWAT gear, so I dove right in. I'll be working on the next chapter, SPOV, as quickly as I can. But, you know, reviews are a GREAT motivator. :) I've read other stories where the authors claim reviews are like crack. It's true! If only they would make me skinny. LOL**


	5. Dreaming

**A/N: You guys crack me up! And it appears that everyone agrees Eric is S.W.A.T. alicious! Om Nom Nom!**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them all. However, I do own the Season 2 set of True Blood (but if I start watching it now I'll have to watch them all before writing again, so it's just sitting there looking pretty.)!**

Chapter 5 - Dreaming

**SPOV**

When they left my office I started feeling overwhelmed and had to sit down. How on earth did Adonis, I mean Eric, end up walking into my office? I'm a believer that everything happens for a reason, so maybe we were meant to meet up again?

I could contemplate the ins and outs all day long, so I put the thought aside to think about on another day. Besides, we were meeting up for lunch in a few hours and I could get a better idea then, of what was going on between us, which was definitely SOMETHING.

"Sookie!"

Startled, I looked up to see Amelia standing in my doorway. "Yes?"

"I've been standing here for 5 minutes trying to get your attention. Where were you? Off in a sex filled fantasy starring the Viking Sex God that just walked outta here?"

"No!" My denial wasn't very convincing considering I was now the same shade as Prince's Little Red Corvette.

Amelia came all the way into my office and shut the door behind her. She took a seat across from me, crossed her arms, and said, "I'm not leaving until you spill."

Sigh. Do I tell her everything? I trust her not to tell anyone else, but last night was so out of character for me. It was actually more along the lines of something Amelia would do. Deciding I would just do it quick, like ripping off a band-aid I said, "Wehadsexinastoreroomatthebar."

I didn't know how it was possible, but I actually turned a darker shade of red.

Amelia's shocked face consisted of bugged out eyes and her mouth in the shape of an "O". Then she roared with laughter and came over to my side of the desk, hugging me, saying "Good for you Sookie! It's about time you joined the new millennium."

While I expected her to say something along those lines, I still couldn't help feeling a little mortified at what I had done.

"I don't know what came over me. I'm not like that. He was a complete stranger and I had sex with him in a bar," I mumbled through my hands that were now covering my face.

"Well, look at the bright side. He's not a stranger anymore! Have you snooped on him yet?"

After seeing the confusion written across my face she elaborated, "You know, working in this office has some benefits. We can pull up his police jacket like we do with the cops that we need to testify."

She was right. We did that as a matter of protocol to make sure we knew their professional histories in case we needed to do damage control prior to their testimony.

But could I do that? I would feel like I wasn't playing fair by checking up on him. I said as much to Amelia.

She shrugged it off saying, "Do you really think he's not going to use every tool he has available to look you up?"

Maybe? Before I could voice my opinion she was pecking away at my keyboard and his picture was up on my monitor.

Oh my God. He was in his uniform. If things progressed with "us" he would definitely be wearing that in my presence at least once. Or twice. With his handcuffs. And his nightstick. Mind out of the gutter Stackhouse!

Amelia starting reading aloud everything on the screen.

"He has a BS in Criminal Justice from LSU, Class of 2001. He joined the Shreveport PD immediately following graduation. He got promoted to sergeant in 2005, detective in 2007, and has been a member of the S.W.A.T./E.R.T. team since 2008. Ooooh, Viking S.W.A.T. Sex God!"

"Amelia!" I was thinking the same thing, but still.

"What? His record is clean, so that's good. AND, he's single!"

I liked everything we found out about him, but I still felt guilty looking at his jacket. These are things I should've found out from him, not his personnel file.

Reaching across Amelia I clicked on the button to logoff the database and sighed.

"That's enough snooping. I feel like he should be the one telling me these things."

"Okay party pooper. So, did you two make plans to see each other again?"

I felt a hint of my blush return. "Yes, we're meeting for lunch. But, I don't think it's really a date or anything because we're going to go over his notes on DeCastro."

She looked at me like I was a twit.

"What?"

She made a tsk tsk noise saying, "Oh Sookie. I saw how he was looking at you yesterday in the bar, prior to your hot monkey sex session," my blush darkened, "so make no mistake about it. That man wants you!"

I admit, from the time I saw him standing in my doorway, I wanted those words to be true. Aside from his incredible good looks and his ability to make my body explode in pleasure, there was something about him that just seemed "right."

Mr. Right? I found myself hoping he was.

I left my office at 11:45 and made my way to Lafayette's Diner. Since our building wasn't far from the police station, I walked and made it there a couple of minutes early.

I chose a booth not far from the door and sat facing it so he would see me when he came in.

The waitress walked up and handed me a menu, asking if I would like a drink. I told her that I was waiting for someone to join me, but a lemonade would be nice. She had screaming red hair and her uniform was a little too tight with her skirt hiked up a little too high. I'd noticed the other waitresses' skirts weren't as high, so she must've done it on purpose. Her name was 'Arlene' according to her nametag.

She brought me the lemonade and said to just call her back over when I was ready.

Since I had a few minutes with nothing else to do I sat wondering how our lunch was going to go. Would it be awkward? Should I bring up what happened between us last night? Would he? Ugh, did he tell his pervert partner what had happened? Shit, was his partner coming to lunch too?

Thinking back, I'm pretty sure Eric said "I" and not "we" could meet me for lunch. I hoped that was the case.

I kept going over and over in my head what had happened last night. Not what we DID, although that was pretty spectacular, but more about what I had been thinking and feeling. It was as if I knew him already, but not. More like my soul knew him?

Corny, I know. It was hard to wrap my head around it when he wasn't there in front of me. But when I saw him again I felt the same feelings as I did last night. I was drawn to him. If I had never seen him again I would have always wondered about him. Now that I have seen him again, and know who he is, I definitely want to see more of him. I want to get to know him to see if these feelings are real or just infatuation.

I must have lost track of time again because Arlene came back asking if I'd like to order yet. I started to tell her I was still waiting on someone when I looked at my watch and realized it was after 1 o'clock already.

He stood me up? What the hell? I know he was angry at the start of the meeting but I thought things were going good by the end. I checked my cell phone and there weren't any missed calls or texts. I don't think he had my cell phone number, but if he had called the office to cancel our lunch Amelia would have let me know.

Was he playing games? Did he think that after what happened last night, he would ask me to meet him for lunch just to see if I would agree, even if he wasn't interested? Asshole! And here I was thinking of "soulmates" and "fairy tale endings." Psshh!

I handed Arlene a $5 bill apologizing for keeping her table occupied for nothing and left.

My Stackhouse temper was blowing at maximum capacity. WHEN I saw him again he would be answering for this. I just hoped I wouldn't get caught up in his gaze before lighting into him, because if that happened I had a feeling he might be able to talk me down from my high horse. There was also a good chance he could talk me into playing "Sheriff and the Naughty Prisoner." Maybe.

When I got back in the office I was still fuming. Amelia wasn't at her desk, so maybe she went out to lunch too. I checked my office line and there weren't any voicemails, so he didn't call.

Amelia poked her head in my door about 20 minutes later saying she had to put some things into the refrigerator and would be right back to get all of the "steamy details" of my lunch date.

It was "steamy" alright. I'm sure there was still steam shooting from my ears right now.

I heard Amelia's heels clicking down the hallway back towards my office at a pretty fast clip. I almost chuckled thinking she sure was eager to find out about a date that didn't happen.

She rounded the corner into my office gasping for air. She sputtered out, "Did Eric make it to your lunch date?"

I thought it was odd that she would ask that, so I responded, "No, why?"

"Because when I went into the breakroom to put away the creamer there was a breaking news story on the TV about a hostage situation at some house downtown. They showed the S.W.A.T. team was there." She was still trying to fill her lungs with air.

My stomach dropped. He didn't stand me up. But he was in a dangerous situation right at this very moment.

I sprang out of my chair and raced down the hall to the breakroom. The news reporter was on the screen with a view of a duplex home blocked off by the police. There was a group of men in S.W.A.T. gear huddled together in the background, but I couldn't make out which one was Eric. Between their identical uniforms, similar heights, helmets, and bulletproof vests, they all looked the same.

Bulletproof vests.

"Shit Amelia. He's there." I started wringing my hands together over and over feeling like I had to be there to see that he was okay.

I paid attention to what the reporter was actually saying now and as soon as he said the address I took off out the door with Amelia right behind me.

Ten minutes later we pulled up to the police barricade and parked. Another benefit of working in the DA's office are the credentials you're issued. It got me and Amelia behind the barricade. We started walking toward their command center, but my eyes were scanning every which way looking for him.

As soon as we reached the on-scene commander, I identified myself and said we were working the case involving their suspect, and would provide any assistance they might need.

It was a lie, but I wasn't leaving until I knew Eric was okay. I felt fiercely protective of him, but this was no time to ponder why I felt that way.

We saw 4 S.W.A.T. members sneaking around the opposite side of the duplex heading towards the back of the house with their guns drawn, while 4 more headed towards the front door carrying a huge battering ram.

We could hear the radio traffic from where we were standing and as I heard them count down I felt Amelia grab my hand in hers. As we heard, "GO GO GO," come across the airwaves we saw the battering ram crash into the front door exploding it into a thousand pieces.

I held my breath as another explosion ripped through the front room of the house. I could hear them shouting, "CLEAR" over and over on their radios, and I could distinctly pick out Eric's voice.

It felt like everything was going in slow motion, but I knew no more than 15 seconds had passed.

As silent tears made their way down my face I heard him say "Stan." He sounded very calm, but I can only imagine the adrenaline that must have been flowing through his body.

He was trying to reason with this Stan guy to give himself up. Good Lord, there was a baby in there.

WHO IN THE HELL IS THAT? Some asshole started screaming at the guy.

Stan wants a deal from us. I can do that. I'll get Pam on the phone and get a deal if it means getting Eric out of there unharmed. I started pulling out my phone when I heard gunshots come from inside.

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!

"SHOTS FIRED! SHOTS FIRED! SUSPECT DOWN! OFFICER DOWN! OFFICER DOWN!"

The tears came on full force then. A swarm of police officers flooded into the house while I stood there shaking and crying as Amelia wrapped her arms around me.

The EMTs had been just outside of the police barricade and went barreling into the house. I saw a female officer walk out of the house carrying a crying baby. The officer was crying too. He was covered in blood but it appeared he was, physically, unharmed. As she walked towards the ambulance Amelia asked her which officer was shot.

I was grateful she did because I couldn't speak.

"Eric Northman."

My legs gave way underneath me and I collapsed on the street. I didn't faint, but my whole body felt flushed and clammy at the same time. I had tunnel vision.

A gurney was being wheeled out of the house and I forced myself to get up. I started walking towards them only to see an unconscious woman with a huge knot on the side of her head and dried tears and blood staining her cheeks.

Someone brushed passed me heading into the house. Looking up I could see "CORONER" on the back of his jacket and he was carrying a body bag.

A sob ripped out of my chest. How could this be happening? I couldn't explain it, but I knew we were supposed to be together. I could feel the pull of him towards my soul. He can't be gone. We haven't even had the chance to start yet. He can't be gone.

The sight and sound of Detective Herveaux brought me back to reality.

"MAKE A HOLE! MAKE A HOLE!" Behind him was another gurney, with Eric strapped to it, lifeless. His helmet was off, as was his vest. Alcide was holding it in one hand while pulling the gurney with the other.

I could see where bullets had pierced the front of the vest.

I ran towards them, crying out to him, "ERIC!"

He looked like he was sleeping. The front of his shirt had been ripped open, and a huge welt was forming right before my eyes on his chest over his heart, but I didn't see any blood on him.

I grabbed onto his hand and walked with him towards the ambulance. I didn't see or hear anything else. All of my senses were consumed by him.

Amelia started shaking me and said, "Did you hear me Sookie? He's going to be okay. He was just knocked unconscious."

I looked over at her while still clutching his hand, "What?"

With a soft smile she said in a more soothing tone, "He's gonna be okay Sook."

It was then I felt him squeezing my hand. I whipped my head around to look down on him and he was smiling at me.

"Am I dreaming?"

Another sob came out of me along with a fresh batch of tears. "No, you're not dreaming."

"Good." After a slight pause, "Stay with me?"

I found a smile on my lips as I answered, "Say please."

**See? All of that fuss and there was nothing to worry about! I was going to be REALLY mean and end the chapter after "Eric Northman" was the one shot, but I just didn't have it in me. I like you all too much! :)**

**Oh, and, does anyone else think Casey James from American Idol could be Eric's little brother, or is just me?**

**Press the blue button and I may throw in a hint of lemon zest in the next chapter! **


	6. Stay

**A/N: I'm glad everyone was relieved that Eric was okay (If he wasn't that would've made for a really short story, LOL). This next chapter is a lot less action, I figured they needed to wind down some. After all, only 24 hours have passed since the "met" at the bar. The action (and plot! I swear there's a plot!) will pick up in the next chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them all, I just bang them up a bit.**

Chapter 6 - Stay

**EPOV**

What happened?

Where am I?

I felt groggy. I could hear something, but I couldn't make it out. My ears were ringing and everything sounded muffled.

Am I moving? I feel like I am. Maybe I'm dreaming I'm flying again.

"ERIC!"

Is that Sookie? Oh, this is gonna be a GOOD dream.

I opened my eyes and there she was. The sun was behind her, low enough in the sky that it looked like she had a halo. Why is she looking away from me?

It was then that I felt her small hand gripping mine. I squeezed hers in return, causing her to look at me.

Why is she crying? She shouldn't be crying in my dream.

"Am I dreaming?"

Shit! She's crying harder. I don't like this dream at all.

"No, you're not dreaming."

"Good." It started coming back to me what had happened. I could've died and I would have never had the chance to make her mine. "Stay with me?"

I guess she liked that because her tears slowed down and a small smile appeared on her beautiful face. "Say please."

Thank God she made a joke. A lot of guys on the force have relationship issues where their significant other can't deal with the stress of having their loved ones "in the line of fire" so to speak. Hopefully her reaction meant we wouldn't be having those issues.

Sookie never let go of my hand. After we got out of the ambulance, there was a group of cops lining the hallways of the hospital waiting on me. I know it's done every time an officer is shot, but normally I'm the one lining up, not the star attraction getting wheeled down the hallway. I didn't like the attention.

Sookie was still at my side, holding my hand the entire way. It felt right.

Just as we were turning the corner into the exam room I saw Felicia standing in the hallway. It looked like she had been crying, but right now she was staring daggers at Sookie. I made a mental note to deal with her the first chance I got.

Alcide followed us into the exam room, looking back and forth between Sookie and I and then down at our clasped hands. He didn't say a word about it. I love that guy.

He looked back down at me and asked, "What in the hell happened? I couldn't see passed the three of you in the doorway. It sounded like Davis was calming down, but then Quinn raised his gun and fired. I could see your arms. You never raised your gun. What's wrong with you?"

His anger steadily increased as he was talking and he was bellowing by the time he finished.

I tried to concentrate on what had happened. I was focused on Davis the entire time. I replayed it over and over before coming to the conclusion that I could see the barrel of Quinn's gun raising in my peripheral vision before Stan raised his. I couldn't remember anything after that until I was with Sookie.

Hesitating, I asked "What did Quinn and Chow say?"

"Quinn said Davis was making a move to fire so he took him out with a head shot. Chow was in front of both of you, and he saw Davis raise his gun and fire but he jumped forward to catch the kid. What happened? WHY DIDN'T YOU RAISE YOUR GUN?"

Someone standing in the doorway cleared their throat to get our attention. It was the doctor.

Alcide stormed out, but when Sookie stood to follow him I tugged on her hand. "Please stay with me?"

It wasn't that I was afraid or worried what the doctor was going to say. I just felt better having her there.

She smiled and sat back down.

The doctor looked me over and insisted I get a CT scan of my head and a chest x-ray, but both came back normal.

FINALLY, I was released from the hospital. I told Alcide I'd call him in the morning, and thanked everyone that had come to see me. Sookie's friend Amelia had dropped off Sookie's car at the hospital so she offered to take me home. After gingerly climbing into her passenger seat, which she had to move back as far as it would go, she shut my door and got in on the driver's side.

I leaned the seat back a little because the welt on my chest was throbbing some when Sookie leaned across me to grab the seatbelt and buckled me in. She smelled amazing.

Smiling she said, "I wouldn't want to get pulled over and get a ticket."

I took her hand from the seatbelt buckle and pulled her back across me. I laced my fingers through her hair on the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. She gently pressed her lips to mine, tracing my bottom lip with the tip of her tongue.

I had closed my eyes, savoring every bit of her, when I felt something wet on my cheek. I looked up and saw that she had started crying again, slow silent tears running down her cheeks.

I held her face between both of my hands, wiping the tears away.

Her breath hitched and she said, "You really scared me today."

I pulled her to me for another kiss, whispering "I'm sorry" against her lips over and over.

She seemed to calm down, and gave me a small smile before pulling back and settling into her seat.

I told her where I lived, and as we pulled out of the hospital parking lot I reached over and took her hand in mine, settling them in my lap. She looked over at me a smiled, her shoulders relaxing once we were physically connected.

The silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, but I wanted to hear her voice. "I'm sorry I missed lunch today," I offered.

She looked at me and mockingly glared. "You could've at least called!"

I smiled wider. "Yeah, I got sidetracked. Do you forgive me?" I gave her the puppy dogs eyes.

She shook her head and mumbled what sounded like "Good Lord" before saying out loud, "I suppose. You do have a good excuse."

"Was that officially our first fight? Or was that this morning? Do we get to make up now?" I waggled my eyebrows at her.

Giggling, she responded, "I think you need to slow down there buddy. You got shot today, remember? And, no offense, but you need a shower."

Buddy? "I didn't get shot. My vest got shot, not me. And, yeah, Alcide and I were at the gym when we got the hostage call."

"Semantics. You. Got. Shot. You were lucky, but YOU got shot."

I didn't want to go down this avenue of thought just yet, afraid she would start crying again. We pulled into my driveway and she helped me out of the car.

I had bought this place after I'd made Detective. It was just a small three bedroom ranch, but it was mine. I hated having to share walls with neighbors.

I unlocked the door and we were greeted by Bubba, my hound dog. He had been a K9 drug dog in our department and when it was time for him to retire, I volunteered to take him. He was getting up there in age and sometimes appeared confused, but he deserved a good retirement so I made sure he had what he wanted. He LOVED to chase cats.

Sookie took to him immediately, reaching down to scratch his head and ears and cooing baby talk to him. Based on Bubba's reaction the feeling was mutual.

I wanted to sit down on the couch and pull her up against me, but I knew I needed to get in the shower.

As I was watching the two new best friends getting acquainted I said, "Make yourself at home. I'm just gonna jump in the shower."

She looked up at me smiling, "Are you going to be okay on your own? Do you need help?"

I wasn't sure if she meant in the shower, or just in general. My chest tightened a little bit at the thought she was going to leave once I got in the shower. I involuntarily put my hand to my chest and sucked in some air.

She was in front of my in an instant with her hands fluttering over me, unsure of what she should do. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Uh…" I wanted her to stay. I felt a little guilty at what I was about to do, but…"My chest. I don't know. I think I'm okay. If you have something you need to do, I understand. I'm sure I'll be alright." I gasped again for good measure.

Her eyes widened as she said, "No, I don't have to leave. Why don't you sit down for a minute and I'll go and get your shower started."

I sat down on a chair in the kitchen looking sheepishly at her, "Thanks." I was internally high-fiving myself.

She grabbed her cell phone and walked into my bedroom where the master bathroom was located. I heard the water turn on and she was speaking to someone but I couldn't hear the conversation.

When she walked back into the kitchen she said, "I talked to my boss and took tomorrow off. So, I'm free for the next 3 days," she finished with a smile.

I forgot, today was Thursday. I wouldn't have to be back at work until Monday either. Smiling at her I asked, "What are we gonna do for 3 WHOLE days?"

She gave me a pointed look, and said, "The first thing we're going to do is get you in the shower, so scoot." She was shooing at me with her hands towards the bedroom.

I slowly stood up and shuffled into my bedroom. I noticed the shirt I had been wearing last night laying on top of my dresser where I had left it. I guess I didn't need it anymore since I could just pull her close and smell her in person.

I went to reach for it to throw it in the hamper when I felt the strain of moving my arm in my chest. It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. "Ahh.." I gritted my teeth at the unexpected pain.

Sookie's eyebrows furrowed at me and she took the shirt and put it in the hamper. Then she disappeared into the bathroom and I heard the water change from the shower running, to the tub filling. She came back into the bedroom and slid my torn shirt from my shoulders and down my arms.

Well, this was getting interesting. I stood there waiting to see what she was going to do next, trying to keep from grinning like a fool.

She dropped the shirt onto the floor and then she pulled me to the bed where she had me sit down. Kneeling in front of me she removed my boots, one at a time, and then my socks. She stood up and went back into the bathroom. I heard the water being turned off and then she came back to get me.

Pulling me to my feet she led me into the bathroom. She turned to look at me and asked, "Do you need help taking your pants off?"

I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say. Honestly, I could probably manage it on my own, but I sort of wanted her to do it. But, I also knew that while I wanted nothing more than to be naked with Sookie again, I was sure I wouldn't be on my A game tonight. My chest really did hurt.

I guess I took too long to answer because her hands went to my belt. She opened the belt and then unbuttoned my pants. She never broke eye contact with me as she slid them down my legs taking my boxer briefs off along with them. She held onto both of my hands as she pulled me towards the tub, not releasing them until I was seated in the water.

She left the bathroom, returning a minute later with a large plastic cup, and proceeded to use it to gently wet my hair. Pouring shampoo into her hands, she massaged it into my scalp and I couldn't help closing my eyes and sighing at the sensation of her fingers working their way through my hair. It only further reinforced my desire to make her mine.

After rinsing the shampoo from my hair, she lathered her hands with soap and worked her way around the upper half of my body that wasn't immersed in the water, using a feather light touch over my bruised chest.

When her ministrations had stopped I opened my eyes to see her holding the bar of soap and looking at the lower half of my body in the water. She squared her shoulders and reached into the water, lifting my right leg and running the bar of soap across my skin from my foot up to mid thigh. She repeated her actions on my left leg before finally saying, "Do you need help with the rest?" She had a hint of a blush on her cheeks.

Her hands running up and down my body had caused an obvious reaction from Eric Jr. He was wanting attention from her too, but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable. At least not any more uncomfortable than she already was.

"No, I can finish up." I tried to keep the grin from my face, but she was too adorable blushing about my erection when she had already been introduced to it intimately last night.

She left a pair of pajama pants on the vanity for me and walked out carrying my dirty clothes with her, closing the door as she left. I stayed in the tub until I could will my erection away, and then finished cleaning up.

After drying off and pulling the pants on I went and found Sookie in the kitchen. She was making a couple of sandwiches, humming what sounded like Elvis's "Hound Dog" to herself, with Bubba at her heels wanting scraps of lunchmeat. I stood leaning in the doorway just watching her, liking how she looked at home here.

As she turned to carry the plates to the table she finally noticed me. She smiled while looking into my eyes, but when her eyes travelled to the bruise on my chest her smile faltered some.

I should have put on a shirt.

Sitting down she said, "I made us some sandwiches. I wasn't sure what you liked, but I figured since this is your house I couldn't go wrong."

I sat down across from her smiling. "This isn't what I meant when I said I would treat you to lunch, but considering it's already way past dinner time I can say this doesn't count."

We ate in silence and once we were done she grabbed both plates, putting them in the sink.

Turning she asked, "Eric, do you want me to stay with you tonight?" She seemed hesitant.

Stay? Hell, I wanted her to move in. "I'd like for you to stay, but if you're uncomfortable with that I would understand." _Please please please say you'll stay._

Another blush colored her cheeks and she replied, "I don't mind staying. Can I borrow one of your t-shirts to change into?"

Inside I was doing a happy dance. "Help yourself to whatever you find. I'm going to let Bubba out and then we can get some sleep." It was already after 11, and I was starting to feel the effects of the long day.

She disappeared into the bedroom while I let Bubba out. Once he came back in, I went around the house making sure everything was locked. When I walked into the bedroom she was standing there wearing one of my black t-shirts with S.W.A.T. on the back. It was long enough to be a dress on her.

I didn't expect seeing her in my clothes would be such a big turn on but it was. My inner caveman was jumping around beating his chest.

We both stood there just staring at each other with the bed in between us. Finally I climbed in and pulled the covers down on the opposite side of the bed. "We'll just sleep Sookie."

She nodded and got into the bed. I turned out the lights and reached over, pulling her up against my side like I had wanted to do earlier. She felt so right. I wrapped my arm around her waist and she put her head on my shoulder and her leg across mine. I turned to face her and brushed my lips across hers whispering, "Thank you Sookie, for everything." I watched as her eyes filled with unshed tears. She nodded and closed her eyes, pulling herself tighter against me.

As I listened to the sound of her breathing I slowly trailed my fingers up and down her spine. Since she was laying up against my side I could feel her nipples begin to harden, and breaths became more shallow. She let her hand drift further down to just below my navel, tracing an imaginary pattern across my skin. Eric Jr. noticed.

"What are you thinking?" I asked her. I had to know.

"A little bit of everything I guess. Mostly I'm just thinking how lucky I am to be here with you. I..."

She hesitated for a moment and I took the opportunity to lean forward and kiss her again. It started slow and loving, but the longer I kissed her the more I wanted and judging by the moans and whimpers coming from Sookie she wanted more too.

My hands started rubbing all over her body wanting to touch every inch of her. It was when I attempted to turn on my side to face her that the pain in my chest made itself known again. "Ahhh...shit."

"Are you okay?" she gasped, immediately stilling her body.

"Yes," although it sounded more like a question than a fact. I could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't buying it.

"You're hurt Eric. It's okay, we can just snuggle."

_But I want to do MORE than snuggle._ "I REALLY want to do more, but it does sort of hurt if I move around too much," I admitted.

She got a glint in her eye and said, "Lie back, " as her hand glided down my stomach, pulling the front of my pajama pants down and wrapping her fingers around my shaft.

"Oh...God..." Her hand was so soft and warm. She could barely close her fingers all the way around but she made do by twisting her hand as she stroked up and down my length. She carefully manuevered around my body settling between my legs and licked me from the base to tip before enclosing her mouth around the tip. She continued to stroke me while working as much of me into her mouth as she could get, swirling her tongue as she went. It wasn't very long before I could feel myself swelling more with my impending release and I tried to warn her.

"Sookie...if you...don't...I'm about..." She just increased her pace, moaning while she did so and I exploded down her throat. She swallowed everything out of me, lingering for a moment to make sure she got it all. God, she's perfect.

She finished by kissing the very tip of me before climbing back into her original spot snuggled against my side. "Are you okay?" she giggled.

"Uh huh." My brain was frazzled. I pulled her tighter around me saying, "That was incredible, but what about you? I'm more of a giver than a taker."

She giggled again replying, "You gave me plenty yesterday. If it'll make you feel better, you can owe me."

The last thing I remembered was mumbling, "Definitely Lover, I owe you" before I fell asleep.

**I'm sorry if the whole Bubba thing was corny, but I couldn't resist. And, I know I replied to some of your reviews yesterday saying there would be "mild zest" blah blah blah, "he just got shot", yada yada, but the more I thought about it I figured he had a VERY trying day and deserved a little something for his troubles. She'd been taking care of him all night long, why not take care of ALL of him? While it's not whole lemons, it's at least a wedge. :)**


	7. A Lead

**A/N: I'm sorry for the later than usual update. The reason for my blasphemous tardiness is in the A/N at the end of this chapter. *doink doink***

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them, I'm just trying to come up with different ways to get them to touch each other's no-no spots.**

Chapter 7 – A Lead

**SPOV**

The next 3 days seemed to fly by. I had run over to my condo on Friday morning to pack some clothes and stayed with Eric helping him whenever I could. We spent most of the time together just talking or cuddling on his couch with Bubba in front of the TV. He was still in pain from getting shot, or "the incident" which is what I silently called it. I didn't ask him about what had happened, but I figured if he wanted to talk about it, he would bring it up. And honestly, just thinking about it made me tear up.

I knew that I was falling for him fast. Bill's betrayal was still fresh in my mind, but for some reason I didn't worry about that happening with Eric. What scared me was the fact that I didn't care about Bill half as much as I was coming to care about Eric. While Bill broke my heart, if anything were to happen with Eric I knew I would be utterly broken.

His partner Alcide showed up on Eric's doorstep on Sunday afternoon with a case of beer. I took that as my signal to return to reality. I knew they would probably want to talk about "the incident" so after a departing kiss that I could feel down to my toes, I made my way home.

Amelia was waiting for me with my favorite Starbucks coffee when I got into the office on Monday.

Grinning, she said, "I figured you'd be REALLY tired from your long weekend and could use a pick-me-up."

I blushed at the thought of what she was implying, but the truth was aside from that first night, nothing more happened. I WANTED to, but I didn't want to push him knowing he was hurt.

"I'll have you know that I'm very well rested Amelia Broadway, so you can just get your mind out of the gutter." I put on my best indignant face and sat down. My southern manners kicked in a second later. "Thank you for the coffee though."

"Are you serious? After all of that drama, you didn't have "THANK GOD YOU'RE STILL ALIVE" sex? That's gotta be WAY hotter than make-up sex. But maybe equally as hot as bar storeroom sex."

My blush returned full force. "Stop it Amelia! He was shot for goodness sakes. I wasn't going to attack him when he was hurting." _Again_ I added silently.

Thank God Pam walked into the office ending that conversation or we would have been going back and forth for the rest of the morning.

"How's your, what is he to you, your 'boyfriend'?" she asked.

Huh, what WAS Eric to me? He was definitely 'something' to me. We hadn't discussed "us" at all. Everything just seemed to flow naturally when we were together. I guess that was a conversation we needed to have at some point.

Deciding to answer only half of her question I responded, "He's okay. His chest has a massive bruise on it from the gunshot, but his vest held up. He's going back to work today."

"There was footage of you on the news walking him to the ambulance. You seemed pretty upset. Is there going to be an issue with both of you working on the DeCastro case together? This is too important to let personal lives get in the way."

"No, there won't be any issues. I would never let my personal life interfere with my job." I meant it too.

Pam looked hard at me, before giving me a smile. "It's nice to see you happy again." Putting her 'DA face' back on she said, "I want updates on your progress with DeCastro. I'm in court most of the week so email me and I'll check my blackberry when I can." With that she was out the door.

Eric and I had made plans to meet up at the station at 10 o'clock this morning to go over his and Alcide's notes. I'd been to the police station dozens of times, but I wasn't sure where Eric's desk was located. As I made my way to the second floor where the detective's offices were I nearly got knocked down by a moving wall.

He managed to grab my arms before I fell on my ass. "Sorry about that babe. I didn't see you there."

Babe? Looking up, I saw he was a bodybuilder type with a bald head and what looked like purple eyes. Creepy.

Yanking my arms free I straightened my clothes and asked, "Can you tell me where I can find Detective Northman?"

His voice dropped and octave when he replied, "You can do better than Northman babe. How about I take you out for dinner? My name's Quinn."

My hackles raised at the complete lack of professionalism this oaf seemed to possess. Game on!

In my most scathing voice I said, "Well Quinn, first off, I'm not your 'babe', nor will I ever be your 'babe'. I'm Assistant District Attorney Stackhouse here to see Detective Northman on a case. I have no interest in you or dinner with you, and if you ever speak to me in such a disrespectful and unprofessional manner again I'll take it up with the Chief."

Before he could respond I heard, "ADA Stackhouse. I see you've met Lieutenant Quinn."

Looking over I saw Eric standing in the hallway looking mighty pissed at the oaf. I squeed on the inside thinking I must be 'something' to him too.

Smiling at him I said, "Yes Detective Northman, we have. " I moved passed Quinn to stand in front of Eric. His gaze finally broke away to look down at me. As soon as our eyes met he broke out his lopsided grin. My panties dampened.

I watched as his eyes took in what I was wearing. All weekend long he had only seen me in t-shirts or tank tops paired with jeans or yoga pants.

Knowing I would see him today, I put on my black pencil skirt that had a high waist along with a crisp white button down shirt that was fitted on the sides, tucked in. It had three-quarter length sleeves and the top button sat just where my cleavage started, framing the girls nicely. I had put my hair up into a French twist with just a few wisps on each side at the front and a pair of black stilettos completed the look. I dubbed it my "slutty librarian" look.

He leaned in to me whispering, "You're killing me. And I'm going to have a HARD time concentrating with you wearing that."

Hearing the husky tone his voice had taken made my heart rate speed up and my girly bits twitch remembering just how well he knew how to take care of that problem.

Steeling myself against finding an empty store room in the police station I took a deep breath and smiling at him I said, "I would say I'm sorry, but it would be a lie. Where are we going to go over your notes?"

His eyes were smoldering at me with a silent promise that he would make sure I wouldn't be sorry at all. He turned around and directed me to an empty conference room. Alcide joined us and we spread everything out and started going over all of it.

Going over the written transcripts from the phone taps I said, "This is the one we got the warrant for his computer for, right?" I held up the transcript where the unknown person mentioned hacking into the armory files at Barksdale AFB. "Did anyone contact the base to see if they could trace the hack from their end?"

Eric looked at Alcide and responded, "No. At the time, tech was working on getting into the encrypted files on DeCastro's computer. We wouldn't need them to trace the hack when we would've gotten the files from his computer."

"How about I give their JAG office a call and see if I can get us in to see them?" I was hopeful this could be our way back to getting DeCastro.

An hour later the three of us were getting our visitor's pass and entering Barksdale AFB. Colonel John Flood met us in the lobby of the Judge Advocate General's office and escorted us to his office.

After being seated I handed him copies of the phone transcripts and gave him an overview of what happened with the DeCastro case.

Colonel Flood listened to everything we had to say and then made a few phone calls. The first was to his IT Security person telling them what we were looking for and the general time frame when we think it would've occurred. He assured the Colonel that he would look into it immediately and would report his findings. The next call went to the Security Forces Commander requesting they do a complete inventory of the armory. All weapons on the military installation are kept in a central armory that is manned 24 hours a day. All weapons are logged as they're removed and returned along with ammunition.

Colonel Flood assured us he would call as soon as he knew anything. After thanking him, we decided to stop for lunch at Lafayette's Diner on the way back.

I sat in the same booth as the week before with a sense of déjà vous. Only this time I had Eric with me instead of him being in harm's way. We had Alcide with us too, but beggars can't be choosers.

Arlene, my waitress from last week brought over our menus. She made an extra effort to lean over while handing them out trying to get Eric's attention. I wanted to bitch-slap her.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" she purred at him. Alcide was snickering looking back and forth between Eric's obliviousness as he studied the menu at my side and my murderous glares at her.

"I'll have a lemonade," I said with a triumphant grin. _He's MINE bitch._ They each ordered a coke and she FINALLY left with a little too much sway in her walk.

"So Eric, " Alcide began, "are you going to the Chief's retirement dinner?"

"It's not like it's an optional event. Yeah, I'm going." Eric turned to me with an expression like a light bulb had just appeared over his head. "Do you want to go with me? It's tomorrow night. I know it's last minute, and I would've asked you earlier but I forgot all about it. "

I could feel the huge grin on my face when I said, "I'd love to go. Is it a 'cocktail dress' or 'formal dress' kind of dinner?"

"Well, I have to wear my dress uniform, so a formal dress would be good." His eyes seemed to dance at the idea of it.

I had the perfect dress in mind. "Sounds great." I was still grinning like a fool when Arlene brought back our drinks and took our orders for 3 'Burgers Lafayette', which Eric assured me were to die for. Arlene was going to die if she didn't stop trying to shove her chest in Eric's face.

As we ate I listened to Eric and Alcide tell stories about one another, bantering back and forth like brothers. I liked Alcide a lot more now than I did the first time we met. He didn't leer at me or give me any unnecessary attention. It was as if he decided I was off-limits now that he knew something was going on with me and Eric.

Just as we were walking out of the diner my cell phone rang. It was Colonel Flood.

"I just heard from the Security Forces Commander that their inventory came up missing a dozen M-16's and a case of C-4. They just did an inventory 3 days ago and it was all accounted for. OSI has the three airmen that were on duty the last three days in a holding room. If you want, you all can sit in on the interrogations."

I relayed the information to Eric and Alcide and told the colonel we were on our way, and I sent Pam an email from my phone telling her about the new development.

Once we were back at the air force base we found the building that housed the Office of Special Investigations and found Colonel Flood waiting for us. He took us inside and introduced us to Special Agent Weiss. She had the airmen in separate interrogation rooms and gave us a brief history of each of them. All of them were members of the Security Forces squadron, all were the rank of Senior Airmen, and none had any disciplinary infractions. None of them stood out from the others.

She led us into the first interrogation room and gave the airman her rights advisement. While the military has a Uniform Code of Military Justice that military members are subjected to, it was the same rights advisement civilians received except they have the option to have a military lawyer if they want one.

The first airman we spoke to was Senior Airman Adabelle Yancy. She had worked the day shift from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. from the day the inventory was last done until today. She seemed very straight forward, if not a little nervous, but that was to be expected. She never faltered when giving her answers or gave any signs she was being deceptive.

Leaving SRA Yancy we walked into the next room where SRA Calvin Norris sat waiting. He got the same rights advisement and the questions started all over again. SRA Norris had all of the same reactions as SRA Yancy, and seemed to be telling the truth. He worked the swing shift from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. My hopes were diminishing minute by minute.

The last airman in line was SRA Franklin Mott. He was older than both Yancy and Norris who were 22 and 23 years old. Mott was 30, but I guessed he had joined the military later in life rather than straight out of high school like the other two.

SRA Mott worked the mid-shift from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. When SA Weiss asked him about his shifts over the last three days he immediately looked down at the table in front of him. His left leg was bouncing up and down and he was sweating profusely. When she mentioned the missing weapons and explosives he crossed his arms in front of himself and crossed one leg over the other, attempting to quell his bouncing. He denied having any knowledge of the missing items, but his body language was telling us differently.

SA Weiss then introduced Eric and Alcide as Shreveport PD and myself as the ADA. Weiss started talking about how there would be both a civilian trial and then a military hearing with sentences running consecutively instead of concurrently with the subject serving time in a Louisiana State Correctional Facility only to leave there to serve time at Fort Leavenworth.

Weiss then looked to me to offer my two cents. Looking at Mott I said, "If you had anything to do with the missing weapons and explosives and cooperate in this investigation I can assure you there will be no charges filed against you in the civilian courts. We just need to know what you know."

He contemplated my words for a few minutes before letting out a sigh. "Three weeks ago I was approached by a guy while I was out at a bar in Bossier City. He offered me five thousand dollars if I would let him and a friend come into the armory and take the M-16's and C-4. I have a little bit of a gambling problem and I have to pay up to my bookie. He already knew what we had in the armory because he knew we hadn't received those M-16's yet and he knew they were being shipped out to the OIF/OEF from here. He told me his guy would hack into the armory records to make it look like the weapons were shipped out so no one would know they were missing. We received them 3 days ago and he called me the next day saying they would be by that night. I let them in around 2 a.m. and they took the stuff and left after paying me."

His body visibly relaxed. You could see the weight lift off of him once he told the truth. After a few more questions we learned that both men were average height and build and they were both in air force uniforms when they showed up at the armory. He gave us a description of the van they were driving and that was all he knew.

Walking out of the room, we followed Weiss to her office where she pulled up the camera feed at every check point on the base. Everyone entering the base has to drive through a check point and have either a visitor's pass or a military ID card. They have to exit through one of the check points as well. After a few minutes of scrolling through the video she found a grainy video of the two men coming in through the main check point in the van Mott had described and then leaving through the same check point 30 minutes later. The video wasn't very good quality because it was night time.

It was the best lead we had so far and I didn't want it to dead end because we couldn't make anything out in the darkness. Then an idea came to me. "They seemed to be pretty well prepared. They knew of the shipment before it ever got here and where it was supposed to be going. They knew to come dress up as a military member to blend in. They knew who was working in the armory and when. They sound like the types of guys that have a plan. They come prepared. Do you think they would have scoped out the drive onto the base to the armory before the night they took the weapons?"

SA Weiss gave me a knowing smile and with a soft nod of her head she reviewed the video further back. Sure enough, both of them had driven onto the base earlier that day and we had a perfect shot of their faces as they entered through the check point. We also had a perfect shot of their license plate when they left. All of us were high fiving each other as Eric called and got an address for the plate number. It came back to a EEE Caterers and Events. The address for them was in Shreveport. I called in to get us a warrant and as we took off back to town I emailed Pam the good news.

**I know, no lemons. But really, I needed to do some plot work to get them back to ESN. This is being posted later than my normal 6 a.m. EST because I normally write the chapters the day before. I didn't get to write yesterday because I went on a mom-only playdate with a couple of girlfriends to see Sex & the City 2 while the kids were at school. The movie was okay, but the real entertainment was the elderly lady sitting at the front of the theater. She answered EVERY question, rhetorical or not, that came from the screen and when they started playing Beyonce's "Single Lady" in one scene and she danced the whole song with nothing but her arms, I lost my shit as did every other person in the upper part of the theater. I want to be JUST LIKE HER when I grow up! **

***doink doink* **


	8. Nothing, No One

**A/N: So, SOME of you keep hinting none-too-subtly that you're looking for lemons (I'm pointing fingers at you Cate8899 and DrDebbie). So, prepare for some citrus after some minor plot nonsense.**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them, I'm just making them scream each other's names.**

Chapter 8 – Nothing, No One

**EPOV**

I couldn't believe the break we caught on that whole deal at Barksdale AFB. We owed everything to Sookie of course. It was her idea in the first place to go there to begin with, and then to come up with the idea they may have made a dry run in the day time was pure brilliance. She WAS my smart and sexy.

I had a difficult time keeping my hands off of her all day long. That outfit she was wearing tortured me like no other. As soon as I calmed down enough from hearing what Quinn had been saying to her and actually saw her there in front of me, it took a great deal of willpower not to drag her into an office and claim her as mine. She was the perfect combination of sophisticated and sex kitten.

I had a feeling all weekend long that she was still coming to terms with the whirlwind start of our relationship and I didn't want to push her into being intimate again so soon. But, after seeing her this morning and hearing her say that she wasn't sorry for driving me mad? I would make sure she wasn't sorry a few times tonight.

We hauled ass back to town and dropped Sookie off at the courthouse so she could wait on the warrant. Alcide and I went back to the station to brief our lieutenant, Andre LeClerque. The address we were given was in an older strip mall downtown. I knew that it was mostly rundown shops over there that lost business when all of the new shopping centers popped up all over town during the housing boom. We were itching to get over there, but we had to wait on the warrant.

It took another hour before Sookie finally called me. "Hi Eric, I got the warrant. The judge was in session and he just now got out."

"Okay, we had an unmarked patrol car do a drive-by and, the van is parked in back of the building."

"I'll take the warrant and just meet you over there. Oh, and Eric? This one has the right address on it. I checked", she added chuckling.

What a smart-ass. I liked it. But I wasn't above just staying on the line in complete silence to see what her reaction would be.

After a few moments I heard, "Eric? Are you mad? I'm sorry, I was just joking." The worried sound in her voice broke my resolve and I laughed out loud. "Eric! That was not funny! You had me worried!" I laughed harder.

Lowering my voice I said, "No need to worry lover, you can pay me back later. And I haven't forgotten that I owe you."

God. Just saying it out lout had me wanting to say to hell with the search and just take her back to my place and fuck her senseless.

"I haven't forgotten either." Her voice was so low I barely heard her, but the sound of our heavy breathing was increasing exponentially.

I took a deep breath and let out an exasperated sigh. "Uh, what were we talking about before? Oh yeah, the warrant. You have it. That's good. I'll see you over there. Oh, and make sure you stay parked on the street. I don't want you to come up until I call you to let you know it's safe."

I was having a hard time re-focusing my brain. She drove me crazy in the best of ways.

I could hear her take a deep breath. "I will, Eric. See you there. Be safe", she added and then hung up.

I grabbed Alcide and we took off for EEE. We had a couple of patrol cars meet us around the corner as back-up. As soon as we saw Sookie park down the street we went over and got the warrant from her. Alcide and I drove over together along with one of the patrol cars pulling up to the front door while the other patrol parked in the back of the building.

The strip mall was empty except for EEE on one end and a laundromat on the other end. The front window of EEE had their name on the tinted glass, but other than that, there was no other indication it was a business. After pulling on our bulletproof vests and hanging our badges around our necks on breakaway chains Alc and I walked through the open front door with our guns drawn down in front of us and into the empty store front. There was a counter with a fake potted plant on it and a couple of chairs sitting along the walls.

I called out, "POLICE! Anybody here?" When there was no response I looked at Alcide and shrugged. He motioned for the patrolman to come in and had him radio the patrol at the back door that we were going to sweep the building.

Systematically we checked every room in the building and found nothing. No one. Empty. Shit. I called Sookie and told her she could come in while I was going through and office. The file cabinet had been left open, but any files it may have held were gone. There was a computer monitor but all that was left of the desktop were the cables that would have attached it to the monitor and printer. There was nothing to indicate any type of business, caterer or gun runner. Then I noticed a coffee pot in the corner. Walking over I felt the carafe and it was still hot. Whoever was here hadn't been gone for long.

I walked back into the front room when I could hear Sookie talking to the patrolman there. A look of relief came across her face when she saw me. Nothing or no one was more beautiful than her. I must have been staring at her for a while because she smiled and raised her eyebrow questioningly. Right, the search.

"Nothing. No one. Whoever was here is gone and I doubt they're coming back because they emptied the file cabinet and took the computer. There's a coffee pot back there that's still hot so they couldn't have been gone long."

"Why would they up and leave? It doesn't make sense. Unless, they got tipped off somehow?"

Shit. This isn't good. The forensic team was just arriving to dust the place for fingerprints. I motioned for Sookie to follow me to the back where we got Alcide and walked into the back alleyway where the van was parked. It was the same van from the video except it had a large magnetic decal on each side with the EEE logo.

I had the patrolman waiting back there go inside with the rest of the crew so we could have some privacy. Running my fingers through my hair I asked, "So, how many people knew we were checking this place out or coming here?"

We hadn't told Alcide that we suspected they were tipped off, but he came to the same realization once I asked the question. "On our end I guess it would be the desk sergeant that ran the plate, the lieutenant, the unmarked patrol that did the driveby, and the two black and whites that are here but they didn't know what we needed them for until we met them around the block."

I ticked them off in my head. The two patrolman with us were pretty much ruled out since they didn't know where we were going exactly or what we were looking for.

The desk sergeant I spoke to was a guy named Parnell. He has been on the force for nearly 25 years and is due to retire soon. I've known him my entire career and I never saw or heard anything bad about him. He was dedicated to the job and mentored most of the rookies on the force whenever they needed it, including me when I first started. I didn't think it was him, but I guess I couldn't rule him out.

Lieutenant LeClerque has been on the job for 20 years and my boss for the last 3 years. He's a no nonsense type of guy and doesn't hesitate to get in your ass if you fuck up, but he's also the type to have your back if anyone else is looking to jam you up. I would bet my entire pension it wasn't him.

The last was the unmarked patrol. Felicia had been assigned that car today. Could it be her? She was all kinds of crazy, but involved in stealing weapons from the base? I didn't think so, but I couldn't rule her out either. Parnell was the one that had her do the drive-by looking for the van, but he didn't tell her why.

I quickly ran through my thoughts out loud to Alcide and Sookie. Alcide agreed with all of my assessments but we would do some digging on Parnell and Felicia just to be sure.

Looking over at Sookie I saw she had taken a small notebook out of her purse to take notes. I asked, "So Sookie, who knew on your end?"

While she stood there thinking about it she pressed the top of her pen onto her bottom lip and bit down on it lightly. Seeing her made me recall when I had been pressed down on her bottom lip and in her mouth just a few nights ago and I felt Eric Jr. stirring to life. I noticed her lips moving and realized she had started talking while I was busy reminiscing.

"I'm sorry, what?"

I guess she had noticed I'd zoned out and she smiled saying, "I said, the only people who knew were the court clerk I called for the warrant, the judge, and Pam, if she even checked her email yet. She was still in court when I was there getting the warrant. The clerk is an older woman named Octavia Fant and she's been there forever. She's seems nice enough, but I don't know her that well at all. I guess we should look into her too."

Since there wasn't much left for us to do at EEE we decided Alcide and I would head back to the station to brief the lieutenant and Sookie would go back to her office to try and trace who owned EEE. She and I made plans for her to meet me at my house later on tonight.

A couple of hours later I pulled into my garage and parked the car. I greeted Bubba with his customary milkbone. I had weird hours so I had installed an electronic doggie door for him that was activated by a sensor on his collar to open the door whenever he was in front of it. It was money well spent. Tired, I flopped on the couch and kicked my shoes off.

I must have dozed off because I was woken up by Bubba barking and someone knocking at the front door. I opened it to find Sookie on my doorstep. Smiling I moved to the side to give her room to come in.

I had barely shut the door when she shoved me up against it attacking my mouth with hers. My shock quickly turned to lust and I spun us around to where she was pressed up against the door. My hands were running up and down her sides and she fisted her hand in my hair keeping my mouth to hers while making the most delicious sounds.

I finally broke the kiss to let her breathe and moved along her jaw with open mouth kisses to her earlobe, running my teeth along the edges causing her to gasp. Her body was rubbing against mine as her hands trailed down my back to my ass which she grabbed it pulling me against her. When she moved one of her hands to my front and stroked me through my pants I couldn't help grinding into it.

I lifted her up and placed her against the back of the couch. While she continued stroking me through my pants I pulled her shirt out of her skirt and slowly unbuttoned it kissing each piece of flesh I exposed. Sliding it down her arms I let it fall to the floor while I paid homage to each of her breasts through her lacey bra before I dropped to my knees. I ran my hands up the sides of her skirt, finding the zipper at the back. While pulling the zipper down I leaned forward and kissed her center blowing hot air onto her through the fabric. She grabbed the back of my head and pushed me into her, rubbing herself against my face.

Smiling I bit down lightly before pulling back. Hearing her moan in frustration I chuckled, "Eager lover?"

I think she said "mmhmm" but I'm not sure because when I let the skirt drop to the floor I saw she was wearing nothing underneath it. Minx! As she went to step out of her stilettos I stopped her, "Leave them on." I put her left leg over my shoulder as I leaned forward and licked her from her entrance to her clit. Her taste was like nothing I have ever experienced. She was exquisite. I continued to lap at her slowly, flicking my tongue against her clit with every pass.

She braced herself against the back of the couch and held my head in place crying out, "More." I concentrated on suckling her nub while I plunged two fingers inside of her hooking them with each stroke. Her cries and whimpers were becoming louder and as I felt her walls beginning to clench around my fingers I reached up with my other hand to her breasts. I pinched her nipple through the fabric of her bra and she came hard screaming out, "ERIC!"

Hearing her scream my name set off a primal need in me. I stood up and spun her around to face the back of the couch. I dropped my pants while bending her over in front of me and buried myself deep inside of her setting off another orgasm. She screamed out "YES!" and pushed herself back further onto me. I grabbed her hips as she held onto the couch and pounded into her over and over. I could see the sheen of sweat glistening across her back and her muscles flex as she held onto the couch. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer but I wanted her to come with me. Reaching around I rubbed circles over her clit and I could feel her insides clenching down once more. When her orgasm hit her she screamed out my name again triggering me to spill out into her yelling, "SOOKIE!"

We stayed that way for a few minutes catching our breath. As the panting died down I slid myself out of her which is exactly when I realized I wasn't wearing a condom.

"Oh God, Sookie. I didn't put on a condom. I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking." I was afraid of what her reaction would be.

She turned to face me in nothing but her bra and heels, her body flush with color from what we had just done. "Well, I got tested after my last relationship and I'm on the pill." She seemed apprehensive.

I was flooded with relief that she wasn't upset. "Me too. I mean I got tested last year and I'm clean too."

Her eyebrow quirked up, "Last year?"

"Yes Sookie, last year. You're the first person I've been with in a year."

I could see her working the idea of that through her mind. "Oh. Well, you're only the second person I've been with ever."

What? She's fucking gorgeous! "Oh." I kept screaming MINE MINE MINE in my head and loved the idea of it even more.

I pulled her up against me and kissed her putting all of the emotions and feelings I had for her into it that I could. When I finally pulled away I looked down into her blue eyes and could see she felt it too. "I know we haven't known each other long, but I can honestly say I've never felt this way about anyone. Nothing or no one has ever captivated me like you do. Will you be mine?" I held my breath waiting for her answer.

***gasp!* I know, I'm a bitch for ending it there. I can't help it though, I'm from NJ. We're born a bitch and wear the label proudly. :) So, what do you think Sookie's answer will be? Up next, Eric in his dress uniform! SQUEE!**


	9. Mine

**A/N: I would like to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day. Being the wife and daughter of retired military members I know all too well the sacrifices made by them and their families. If you're one of them, I thank you.**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them all, I just like dressing them up.**

Chapter 9 – Mine

**SPOV**

_Mine? _Mine. What does that mean? I must have been taking too long to answer because Eric started looking worried.

"What exactly are you asking me?"

"Well", he hesitated, "I would like for us to see each other exclusively. For lack of a better term, I want you to be my girlfriend and I your boyfriend."

Oh. Oh! I felt a huge grin on my face and answered, "I would like that very much." Apparently we both liked that very much and we showed each other JUST how much three more times before falling asleep.

I woke up extra early the next morning to make the walk of shame, although techincally it was the drive of shame, back to my place to get ready for work. I was tired and sore in all of the right places, but on cloud nine anyway. I'd never been so happy. Apparently it showed.

I saw Amelia as I was walking towards my office and greeted her, "Good morning Amelia!"

Looking up from the papers in her hand, she appeared as if she was about to respond but then her eyes slanted over me as if she was concentrating really hard. I could almost see the light bulb appear above her head when she exclaimed, "Sookie! You've had sex! And by the look on your face it was really GOOD sex!"

Did she ALWAYS broadcast this loud and I never noticed? "AMELIA!", I chastised, "Keep your voice down!" I couldn't help grinning at her while I said it though. Her face took on a smug quality when she looked at something behind me.

"Sookie." I jumped at the voice directly behind me. Bill. What the hell, did he have to sneak up on me like that?

"Bill." Screw him. I intended to ignore him so when he followed me into my office I was a little peeved. Fed up, I slammed my bag down on my desk as I turned to face him. "What do you want Bill?"

He looked mad, but his voice was calm and cool like always. "I saw you on the news last week with that _cop." _He spat out the word 'cop' like it would be something stuck to the bottom of your shoe. "Who is he? I tried calling you all weekend and stopped by your place as well, but you didn't answer."

"Not that it's any of YOUR business, but he happens to be my BOYFRIEND." I was so very thankful at that moment we'd had that conversation the night before.

Amelia had been standing in my doorway tossing grapes into her mouth like she was eating popcorn at the movies and enjoying the show. "SOOKIE! That's so great! He's HOT!" When she said the word 'hot' she gave Bill a look to let him know he definitely wasn't 'hot'.

"This is nonsense Sookie. I've tolerated your childish antics long enough. HE is NOT your boyfriend. YOU are NOT his girlfriend. YOU are MINE."

WHAT? Delusional much? Was this"Claim Sookie Day"? I must have missed the memo that we were still together. "What makes you think that WE are still together? Because WE officially ended when I SAW YOU with your DICK in LORENA. And you know what? She can have it because compared to him YOU are merely a BOY!" Take THAT! Childish antics indeed.

Amelia choked a little on her grapes before saying, "Ooooh Sookie, is he THAT good?"

Giving Bill a pointed look I answered, "He's the BEST I've ever had."

I could see the veins in Bill's forehead and neck getting more and more pronounced and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Before he could respond, Pam made her way into my office.

"_Compton_." She said his name like it was something stuck to the bottom of HER shoes, and Pam LOVED her shoes. I giggled. "Do you have anything work related to discuss with Miss Stackhouse or are you just _harassing_ her?"

No one missed the veiled threat in her words.

"I was just leaving Ms. Ravenscroft", he fumed and walked out with Amelia trailing behind him snickering.

Looking back to me Pam said, "Really Sookie, what did you see in him?"

I had no answer because I could no longer remember what I DID see in him, so I just shrugged.

That must have been a good enough answer because she changed the subject. "Where are we on the DeCastro case?"

"When we got to the address yesterday the place was practically empty. There weren't any papers or files and they took the computer. But, whoever had been there couldn't have been gone for long because the coffee pot was still hot. We think they may have been tipped off we were coming. Detectives Northman and Herveaux are looking into the people on their end that knew the search was going to happen. Besides you, me, and the judge, Octavia Fant was the only other person that knew we got the warrant. Do you think it could have been her?"

Pam thought for a moment before responding, "Mrs. Fant has been the court clerk for years, but nothing surprises me anymore. Check her phone and bank records to see if there's anything that looks out of place."

"Okay. The police dusted for fingerprints so hopefully they're in the system. I'm working on tracking down the owner of the company too."

Nodding, Pam said, "I'm in court again today, so let me know if you find out anything", and with that she walked out the door.

Three hours later I had checked into Octavia's work and cell phone records as well as her bank statements. The only calls she made or received yesterday were from various lawyers or law firms and her bank accounts had shown nothing out of the ordinary. I ruled her out for now.

I tracked down the owner of the strip mall to get the information for the lease agreement for EEE. He said he had never met the owner and had only dealt with him on the phone. He said his name was Mr. Smith, how original. The lease agreement had been faxed to and from a number that I traced back to a Staples store in Monroe while I had him on the phone, and they had paid their monthly rent with money orders they mailed to the building owner.

I was feeling this was turning out to be a dead end when he said he had stopped into their store one day while checking on the building and had met the secretary. All he could remember was that she was a white female with long brown hair and her name was Frannie.

Finally! We at least had a first name. I was about to call Eric with the good news when my phone rang.

"Is this my _girlfriend_?" I could hear the smile in his voice.

I laughed. "That depends, is this my _boyfriend_?"

"It is indeed lover. How's your day so far?" I admit, a shiver went down my spine when he said _lover._

"Better now." Just hearing his voice made me melt inside.

"Was it not going well before I called?"

"No, it's fine. I just had a little run in with my ex this morning, but it was nothing. I was just about to call you." I told him about checking into Octavia and he agreed that we should rule her out for now. Then I filled him in on what the building owner had told me about Frannie. "Finally, we have somethiing to work with."

"A first name is a start. If we get any hits on the fingerprints we found maybe her's will be in the system. Now, back to your ex. What happened?"

I couldn't blame him for asking knowing I would want to know too. "He was just spouting off some nonsense that he thought he and I were still together. I let him know definitively that he and I were NOT together."

I could hear him let out a little huff before saying, "Do you want me to talk to him?" He sounded a little too excited at the idea of it.

"I don't think that's necessary. He's knows where I stand on the subject." The last thing I wanted was a pissing contest.

"Okay. But if you change your mind just let me know." He sounded like he hoped I would. "So, are we still on for tonight?"

Smiling at the thought of what his reaction would be to what I planned on wearing I said, "Absolutely!"

"I have to be there by 7, so I'll pick you up around 6:30?", he paused and then added, "It probably won't be over until 11 or so. Do you want to bring a change of clothes and just stay at my place again?"

My cheeks were hurting from the grin on my face. "Okay. I'll see you around 6:30."

The rest of the day flew by and before I knew it the clock said it was nearly 5. I raced home and tore my clothes off before jumping in the shower. After I scrubbed myself from head to toe and shaved my legs smooth, I dried off and slathered on some lotion placing dabs of perfume in strategic areas on my body. I put on my lacy red strapless bra and the matching thong before throwing some 'work clothes' into a bag. I applied my make-up using a bit more than I normally wear in the daytime and dried and curled my hair into loose ringlets. I loosely pinned up the sides of my hair at the crown of my head using an antique silver hairpin that had been my Gran's. Seeing it made me think of her. I wondered what she would've thought of Eric. I had no doubt she would've loved him.

Walking back into my bedroom I took out the dress I planned on wearing. I had bought it a year ago. I had no place to wear it at the time, but I loved it so much when I saw it I had bought it anyway. It was a deep blood red satin strapless gown with a darker red lace overlay with roses woven into the lace. The neckline was rounded over my breasts with a slight v in between them and it hugged my body all the way to a slight flare at my hips. The hem reached the floor and flared out some in the back with a slit that ran up the left side all the way to nearly the top of my thigh showing off my tanned skin when I walked.

I had just put in Gran's diamond stud earrings when the doorbell rang. Slipping into my red "fuck me" heels I walked to the foyer and opened my front door.

_Guh._ Eric was standing there in what had to be the sexiest uniform ever. He had on a black jacket that ended just below his hips with brass buttons running down the front and two on each cuff. There were gold braided caps on each shoulder and gold insignia depicting his rank on each lapel. A white braided rope attached to his right shoulder and wound itself underneath his arm to the underside of his right lapel with the brass tipped rope ends dangling on the right side of his chest. A black leather strap ran diagonally across his chest over his left shoulder attached to the black and gold belt that cinched across his waist over the jacket. His gold badge gleamed where it sat on his left side over his heart. He wore a white collared dress shirt and white tie underneath and black slacks with gold braiding down the outer seams with shiny black dress shoes. His hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck and hung slightly over the back of his collar. White gloves on his hands completed the look.

I had no words. I couldn't even close my mouth. It took a moment to register the look on his face before I could finally make a noise. It turned out to be laughter, because he was looking at me with what had to be my identical expression.

"Sookie, you look stunning," he finally offered.

"As do you." All I wanted to do was pull him into my bedroom and do very dirty things to him. I wondered idly if he had handcuffs under that jacket somewhere.

We stood there staring at each other some more before he leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on my lips. "We should get going before I lose my willpower and have my way with you." His voice came out in a hoarse whisper that I felt between my legs.

I took a deep breath to clear my head of lustful thoughts and grabbed my bag. "Ready!" He could take it however he wanted to because while I was ready to go I was also ready for him to have his way with me.

Him reaching for my bag let me know which way he took it so I followed him out locking my door on the way.

When we got down to the street I saw him pop the trunk on a cherry red corvette and place my bag inside. It only occurred to me then that I had never seen him drive anything but his police car. I chuckled as he opened the door and helped me into the car as gracefully as possible with the dress I was wearing. Getting in on the driver's side he turned to me and asked, "What's so funny lover?"

I chuckled some more responding, "Nothing. I just had no idea you drove this kind of car."

"And what's so funny about me driving 'this kind of car'?"

"It's just that old cliche about men and little red sports cars. They're either going through a midlife crisis or they're ovecompensating for feeling 'inadequate'." I made a very pointed look to his crotch which was covered by that damn jacket.

"Well, I'm only 30 so it can't be a midlife crisis," he said with a questioning lilt to his voice.

I added, "And you're certainly adequate." I could tell by the look on his face he didn't appreciate that answer. Reaching over he took my left hand and placed it on his right thigh, slowly pushing it further up his leg until my hand rested on his...adequacy.

"You call _this _adequate?" he challenged.

I ran my hand up and down the growing bulge in between his legs while looking him in the eyes. I could feel my heartbeat thundering in my chest and all I wanted to do was rip his clothes off right then and there. Eventually I removed my hand from his 'definitely more than adequate' whatever he wanted to call it and took a deep breath.

"I spoke in haste. You're certainly MORE than adequate. I'd say you're a...'gracious plenty'?"

The lopsided grin I liked so much came on his face and said, "I can live with that." Turning towards the steering wheel he started the car and we sped off into the night.

**I'm sorry to say Sookie accepted his offer to be "his". There was quite a line forming of people willing to take her place. But, I will admit, I would place myself first in line and would more than likely have a Kathy Bates _Misery_ moment if he tried to leave me! Up next, dinner and dancing. And, lemons! (Because I've just GOTTA get him out of that uniform!)**

***doink doink***


	10. The Past

**A/N: WOW! I guess I'm not the only one that lusts after Eric in uniform. So, I've decided to do a series of one shots of Eric in different uniforms. It will basically be pure smut, but I'll try to work in some sort of plot. Each chapter will be Eric in a different uniform, and he will ALWAYS be with Sookie (because I'm lame and feel betrayed when he's paired with anyone else). MY top three sexy uniforms are Marine's dress uniform, NJ State Trooper, and firemen. I've already got ideas for the first two, but if you'd like to make any suggestions or requests with what you'd like to see, let me know! I hope to have the first one up within the next couple of days. And, if you have any ideas on what it should be titled overall, I need help there too. Otherwise it'll be called, Uniforms (because I'm THAT original). LOL**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them all, I'm just taking them for a spin around the dance floor.**

Chapter 10 – The Past

**EPOV**

I don't know how I was able to hold myself back from pushing Sookie back into her condo and fucking her on every horizontal surface there was. That dress she was wearing hugged every delectable curve she has. I could tell she liked what she saw as well, so tonight was going to be very good indeed.

We pulled up to the Omni Hotel and parked. The retirement dinner was being held in one of their ballrooms and I didn't tell Sookie, but I'd booked us a suite for the night. I'm glad I did because I didn't think I'd be able to make it all the way back to my place without pulling over and attacking her.

I couldn't help standing tall with my head held high walking into the ballroom with Sookie on my arm. I could see the other men in the room checking her out and felt proud that she was with me.

The room was huge with banquet tables scattered all throughout the room with a center stage and dance floor at the front of the room. We found our assigned table, sitting down with Alcide and his date, and Chow and Twining and their wives leaving two more seats at our table of 10.

I had turned my attention to the stage as the Chief made his way to the podium when I heard, "Looking good _Babe_, I mean _Assistant District Attorney_ Stackhouse." I felt my blood immediately start to boil.

My entire body tensed when I turned back around and saw that Quinn had sat down next to Sookie and had the nerve to speak to her that way with his date sitting on his other side. Sookie saw my expression and immediately reached for my hand, rubbing small circles with her thumb in an attempt to soothe me. It wasn't working.

I stood up, bringing Sookie to stand up as well, and pulled her towards my chair indicating she should sit down. I then took her seat, effectively boxing her in between Alcide and myself. I leaned over to Quinn, lowering my voice so no one else would hear me. "If you _ever_ disrespect _MY _girlfriend again, we'll take it outside and I'll _TEACH _you respect."

Quinn was bigger than me, but I was quicker and had more stamina. If it came down to it, I had no doubts that I would emerge the victor.

He looked at me as if he was trying to decide how serious I was and then rolled his eyes muttering, "Whatever."

I turned back to look at Sookie and could see she was wondering what had been said between Quinn and I. I just shrugged at her and luckily for me the Chief commanded everyone's attention by starting his speech.

Dinner was served after all of the speeches were made. Sookie spoke easily with Alcide and his date, Maria-Starr Cooper. I was happy seeing her fit so easily into my life.

I did my best to ignore the fact that Quinn was even at our table, but it was sometimes difficult to ignore his date who was a bitch, to put it mildly. All she did was complain the entire time she was there. The speeches were too long, there were too many speeches, her ass was falling asleep from sitting too long, her food was cold, her drink was watered down. You name it, she didn't like it. I don't even know what her name was because douchebag kept calling her 'Babe'. Maybe he did that with every woman so he wouldn't have to remember their names.

Once dinner was over the band started to play a slow waltz. Standing, I extended my hand to Sookie saying, "Would you care to dance?"

Her whole face lit up when she placed her hand in mine saying, "I would be honored."

Walking to the middle of the dance floor, I picked a spot between some other couples and pulled her body close to mine. Taking her hand in mine and placing my other one at the small of her back I led her around the dance floor. I couldn't help but remember how she had danced the first time I had seen her and felt Eric Jr. stir a bit. I found my hand sliding further down her lower back towards her ass a few times, and each time she would pretend to glare at me and pull my hand back up.

As the song ended I spun her around and pulled her back into me for a tender kiss. She seemed to forget where we were because I felt her hand come up to the back of my head as she held me to her deepening the kiss while pressing her body closer to mine.

Pulling back slightly I whispered into her lips, "If you don't watch yourself Miss Stackhouse, everyone here is about to get a show."

I chuckled as she gasped, opening her eyes and loosening her hold on me. Her signature blush crept up her chest to her cheeks and she looked slightly abashed when she realized we were still on the dance floor.

Smiling, she looked down and mumbled, "Sorry."

I tilted her head back up with my finger under her chin. When she finally looked back into my eyes I leaned forward and gave her another tender kiss. Smiling at her I said, "Never apologize for kissing me."

She smiled again and I led her back to our table. Quinn and his date were gone, so I felt okay leaving her there with Alcide and Maria-Starr when I went to the bar to get us all drinks. The 2 bartenders were busy so I leaned up against the bar waiting to place our order when I felt a hand on the small of my back. I smiled thinking Sookie had come to help me carry them back and turned around preparing to put my arm around her waist to pull her closer to me. Thankfully I looked before I reacted because it wasn't Sookie's hand I'd felt, but Felicia's.

I pushed her hand away and huffed out, "What do you want Felicia?" She had changed out of her dress uniform into some tacky white dress with feathers that looked like something that singer Lady GaGa would wear. I couldn't stand either one of them.

"Who's your date?" she asked. She had the nerve to look pissed.

"SHE's my girlfriend." One of the bartenders finally asked what I wanted so I ordered two beers for Alcide and me and a couple of glasses of white wine for the girls.

"What do you mean she's your girlfriend? Since when is she your girlfriend?" I was getting more and more agitated and hadn't noticed she had moved closer to me and had placed her hand on my arm.

"He's been mine since the moment we met. I'm Sookie Stackhouse." I saw Felicia's hand drop down from my arm and I looked over to see Sookie standing at my side with a pleasant grin on her face, but I knew she was feeling anything but pleasant. She immediately wrapped her arm around the one Felicia had just been touching.

I looked back at Felicia who just stood there staring at her, with disbelief on her face.

Smiling sweetly Sookie asked, "Are you a friend of Eric's?"

Felicia's eyes narrowed and she taunted, "Eric and I have a past. And you?"

"How nice for you. Eric and I have a future. Is there anything else you would like to know?" Sookie challenged. She exuded nothing but confidence and dominance. She wasn't backing down in the least. I had a feeling this was 'Lawyer Sookie' and it turned me the fuck on.

Felicia's eyes turned into daggers and she barked out, "NO", and walked away.

Leaning down to Sookie's ear I whispered, "I _like_ dominant Sookie. Maybe she can come out to play later?"

Looking up at me, she blushed again. How she could go from 'Lawyer Sookie' to 'Innocent Sookie' so quickly I'll never know. "You're not mad at me? Eric I'm so sorry for the way I reacted. It's just when I looked over and saw her touching you I was suddenly standing next to you practically pissing on you to mark my territory. I don't know what came over me." Her eyes practically pleaded with me to understand.

I smiled at her and said, "No lover, I'm not mad. Felicia has issues and brings out the worst in me too. I believe I had a similar reaction earlier this evening with Quinn so we're even."

She looked relieved, but then her eyebrows furrowed and asked, "So, is she an ex-girlfriend?"

I quickly explained the whole crazy that is the 'Felicia Ordeal' following it up by reassuring her that it was all in the past and she was the only one for me.

She seemed to accept what I'd told her and helped me carry the drinks back to the table. While we were sitting there talking with Alcide and Maria-Starr, Tray Dawson wandered over to our table.

Tray had retired from the force a few years earlier and had been on the detective squad when I was still on patrol. He sat down to catch up for a bit and I introduced him to Sookie.

Tray looked at her for a moment and asked, "Stackhouse? Were you related to Corbett Stackhouse?"

Sookie's eyes softened a bit and said, "Yes, he was my father."

Sookie had told me about how her parents had died and she and her brother were raised by her Gran. I put my hand on her knee and gave her a little squeeze of support.

She smiled at my gesture and asked Tray, "Did you know him?"

"Yes, I'd worked with him a few times on cases he was prosecuting. He had called looking for me the day he died. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you", she answered graciously.

Turning to me he said, "That reminds me, what happened with the DeCastro deal? One minute he's locked up and the next minute he's a free man."

I explained everything that had occurred giving vague details on where we stood now. It's not that I didn't trust Tray, but we had decided to keep a close hold on information about the case until we caught whoever was selling us out.

He sat there taking in everything I'd told him and chuckled, "Well that's ironic," looking over at Sookie, "that you're working a case against the same guy your father was working on before he died."

Huh? I looked at Sookie and she looked just as shocked as I was. "I've been through all of the files the DA has on DeCastro, and never saw anything that my father had worked on."

He smiled apologetically saying, "Your father had called the station looking for me on the evening he died. He knew I was trying to make a case against DeCastro for heading up a group of drug dealers. At the time he wasn't as powerful or well connected as he is now. Your father left a message saying he had someone I needed to meet that would be the nail in DeCastro's coffin."

"Who was it?" Sookie and I asked in unison.

"I wish I knew. Your father died that night and when they went through his office they never found any notes or anything related to DeCastro."

We sat there stunned. What were the odds a prosecutor's daughter would be trying to convict the same man as her father twenty years later?

Tray excused himself from our table and Sookie and I just sat there looking at each other. I could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to wrap her head around it.

After a few moments she turned to me and said, "Eric, I've been through every box, every piece of paper, that had to do with DeCastro. There wasn't anything there from my father's time in the prosecutor's office."

She seemed every bit as stumped as I was. "Did your father ever work from home?"

Her face lit up when she exclaimed, "Yes! He had an office at home. After they died Gran only brought over mine and Jason's stuff to her house. When Jason moved back there he packed away momma and daddy's stuff and put it in the attic!" She was getting really excited now. "Oh Eric! Why don't we go there this weekend? We can bring Bubba and stay at Gran's house, and you can meet Jason! We can go through daddy's boxes and see if there's anything there."

Her expression then went from excited to apprehensive. Her voice was more unsure when she said, "I mean, if you want to. I don't want to push you into meeting my brother if you're not ready for that yet. I can drive there on Saturday and go through everything."

Was she serious? I pulled her into my lap and said, "Sookie, I would like nothing more than to go with you this weekend. I want to meet your brother and see where you grew up. Why don't we leave Friday after work?"

She leaned down smiling and gave me a kiss. "That sounds perfect."

Having her in my lap was getting me worked up again. I think she realized it and wiggled around even more. I leaned in and kissed her neck just below her ear and whispered, "You're being a very naughty girl Miss Stackhouse. Do you know what happens to very naughty girls?" I sucked the bottom of her earlobe into my mouth and gave it a little bite.

I could feel her heart beating a mile a minute and her breaths became more shallow. "Why no, Officer Northman. What happens to very naughty girls?" she purred back.

She fucking purred. I stood up and half carried, half dragged her out of the ballroom and towards the elevators.

***dodges flying fruit* Sorry! I wanted the lemons to come from Sookie's POV. And I'm sorry for the later in the day update. Real life just didn't want to cooperate with me today. I'm starting the next chapter now, and if I have time I'll start NJ State Trooper Eric. YUM!**

***doink doink***


	11. No no

**A/N: I'm not even going to bother saying anything here because you all are just going to skip right to the lemons. I don't blame you… **

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them. I'm just getting them all sweaty so they can take a shower together.**

Chapter 11 – No no

**SPOV**

I couldn't stop giggling as Eric practically carried me out of the ballroom. I thought we were headed to his car but instead he went straight into an elevator pushing me up against the back wall and grinding his hips into mine.

"Where are we going?" I moaned into his hair as his tongue was trailing along my collarbone.

He reached over pressing one of the buttons and as the door was closing he brought his lips up to my ear. In the sexiest voice I'd ever heard he said, "We're going up to our room where I'm going to show you what happens to naughty girls."

"Oh," I gasped. His hand then trailed down my hip and into where the seam of the slit of my dress parted. He ran his hand along the back of my thigh and then up to my ass where he cupped one side, squeezing as he pressed my hips against his. I could feel his erection sliding up and down my center as I pushed against him harder wanting more friction. "Ooh," I whimpered.

I vaguely heard the elevator ding as we arrived at whatever floor we were on. If I didn't know any better I would have sworn Eric flew us down the hallway. Within seconds he had us in a room and he spun me around so I was facing a mirrored wall.

He placed my hands against the mirror spread apart at shoulder width and then pulled my legs back and apart so I was leaning at an angle.

"You're absolutely _lethal_ in that dress lover." His voice was low and husky. "Perhaps I should _frisk _you to see if you're hiding any _concealed_ weapons."

"Perhaps you _should_," I purred in what I hoped was a sex kitten voice. Pushing my ass against the bulge of his pants I said, "I could be hiding _something somewhere_ underneath this dress _Officer Northman_."

Growling he pressed his body against my back and placed both of his hands over mine. He trailed his gloved hands over my bare skin all the way to my shoulders, the white cotton contrasting with my tan skin. Wrapping my hair around his hand, he leaned down and licked and kissed his way from my left shoulder, across the back of my neck, and over to my right.

Dropping my hair his hands resumed their search starting at each side of my upper back and around to my front. He ran his hands methodically over each breast, cupping and squeezing them, running his fingertips over my hard nipples.

His hands trailed down my chest and ribs over my stomach and came to rest right above my pubic bone. Holding my hips he pressed his erection up against my backside saying, "Hmm, no weapons yet."

Pulling away from me, he bent down and grasped my right leg at my ankle with both hands and slowly slid them upwards under my dress. His fingertips scraped along my inner and outer thigh stopping just where my leg joined my hip.

I could feel the moisture between my legs and I leaned my hips towards his hands desperately wanting him to touch me there.

"No no _naughty girl_. No moving when you're being frisked."

He chuckled when I growled at him and then started the process all over again on my left leg. When he reached the top of my leg he stood placing both hands at my hips once more and slid them towards my lower back, trailing down over each cheek and then cupping them both in his hands.

"Hmmm, no weapons," he sighed. "Maybe I should strip search you just in case."

Using one of his fingers he traced the zipper of my dress from my lower back up to the top and then slowly lowered it all the way down. The top of my dress gave way and hung over my hips with my legs still spread. Using his fingertip he repeated the process on my bare skin tracing where the zipper had been causing goose bumps to appear and a shiver to go down my spine.

He continued his search running his hands along the fabric of my bra from my back towards the front, softly caressing each breast before dipping his hands into the cups and pulling them out leaving them framed in the red lace.

The sensation he was creating caused my head to come up with a gasp from where it had been hanging in both ecstasy and torture. I watched his hands in the reflection of the mirror as his fingers swirled around my nipples and then pinched them in unison as his lips skimmed across my right shoulder to where my neck began, biting down at the same time.

I pushed my hips back into him with a strangled cry slowly losing my mind. Looking up his eyes locked onto mine as she pushed the dress down off my hips letting it fall to the floor. He broke our gaze to take in my reflection as his hands came back to my hips.

I watched his right hand come around my front to trace a slow imaginary pattern from my right inner thigh up and along the top of my thong over to my left thigh, and then back again the same way. His left hand reached around to my left breast while his right hand repeated its pattern, his body firmly pressed into my back. My body was tense and my senses so heightened that I was already close to coming just from what he was doing.

"Look at me lover," he growled out and my eyes locked back onto his as his right hand dipped into my thong where his finger grazed over my clit.

My hips bucked forward as I screamed "YES" and I watched his eyes glaze over with lust when he slid down lower and thrust two fingers inside of me while squeezing my breast. My orgasm came swift and hard as my whole body shook. His hands were the only thing keeping my upright as I felt my knees give way.

He held me there placing tender kisses across my shoulders and back letting me get my equilibrium back. I watched as he slid his tongue up the side of my neck and traced the outer edge of my ear. When his eyes finally met mine again he smiled asking, "Are you better now?"

Oh boy was I. Taking both of his hands in mine I led him to the bed and turned to face him. Looking at him in that uniform had me aching all over again.

I started by removing his gloves, smiling when I felt where my juices had soaked through the cotton. Tossing them aside I ran my hands from his hips around back to his glorious ass gripping him with my hands over his jacket. Running them up to his waist I traced his belt to the front and unclasped the buckle, pulling the attached leather strap up and over his head and letting it fall to the floor.

I put my hands back on his waist and ran my hands up and over his chest, feeling his muscles underneath. Slowly, I opened each brass button along the front, pulling it off of him when I was done. I could see his nipples were hard underneath his white dress shirt so I leaned forward and bit down on one through the fabric causing him to moan. As he went to put his hand on the back of my head I pushed it away saying, "No no _Officer Northman_. No touching."

He growled, but lowered his hands nonetheless. Pulling the knot of his tie loose, I slipped it up over his head and tossed it on the bed. Running my hands over his shoulders and down his arms I traced over every muscle he had before pulling his shirt free from his pants and slowly unbuttoning his shirt one by one.

Sliding it off it fell to the floor and I couldn't help but admire his now naked chest. It was so smooth and defined with just a sprinkling of blonde hair. I leaned forward tracing one nipple with my tongue while I rubbed and pinched the other with my hand.

He moaned and bucked his hips forward but I moved mine back farther, denying him what he wanted. After paying equal attention to his other nipple I licked my way down the center of his chest dipping into his navel and kissing it before resuming Operation Get Him Naked.

I put both hands on his ass once more kneading each cheek before running my hands along his hips towards the front, careful not to touch his straining erection. Undoing his pants, they fell freely on their own with his impossibly hard cock springing forward. I could tell he was aching for me to touch him, but he would just have to wait.

I pushed him to sit on the bed and quickly pulled off his shoes and socks. Gesturing for him to lay down in the middle, he acquiesced. I crawled up along his side and took both of his hands, placing them together above his head. I grabbed his tie and looked at him for permission. I took his hooded narrowed eyes and sexy smirk as a yes. I loosely bound his hands and tied them to a slat in the headboard so he could get free if he really wanted to.

I scooted down to the end of the bed, taking off my thong, and crawled in between his legs. I started placing kisses on the inside of his right ankle and made my way slowly up to the v of his hips while trailing my hand up his left leg simultaneously. I carefully kissed and licked my way across his lower abdomen, letting my hair slide across his erection causing him to shudder while I resumed the pattern of kisses down his left leg.

When I reached his ankle I crawled up in between his legs and blew lightly across the tip of him where a drop of moisture lay.

"_Sookie_, " he moaned but before he could finish I took him in my mouth as far as I could, catching him off guard. His hips bucked up into my mouth as I sucked and swirled my tongue all around his length as he cried out, "_Ahhh_".

I wrapped my hand around what I couldn't fit in my mouth and worked up and down his length while keeping my eyes locked onto his. They were glazed over as he watched me and when I couldn't take it anymore I released him from my mouth with a _pop, _straddled his hips and impaled myself on him in one hard thrust causing us both to scream in pleasure.

I rolled my hips up and down over and over riding him for all I was worth while pinching and squeezing my breasts and nipples with my hands with Eric watching my every move.

"_Sookie, I'm close…_" he moaned out before freeing his hands from their binding to grab my hip with one while using his fingers to press down on my clit with other.

"ERRIIC!" I screamed out as my orgasm took over my entire body. He grabbed both sides of my hips and pounded into me a few more times, drawing my orgasm out even longer before he finally came with a roar deep inside of me. His body spasmed and twitched under me as I lay lifeless on top of him sprawled out across his chest.

We laid like that for what seemed like forever, with him still inside of me. His arms had encircled me holding me to him while I pressed my face further into the crook of his neck inhaling his wonderful scent deeply.

"Wow," he finally muttered.

"Yeah, wow." I agreed. Giggling I whispered, "I _really _like your uniform. It's…it's…_guh_." My brain wasn't working well right now.

Chuckling he asked, "Guh? What is _guh_?"

"That's just it. There are no words to describe how hot you look in that uniform. It's just guh."

"I'll take your word for it," he yawned out. And with that, we fell asleep.

XXX

I woke up the next morning curled into Eric's side. I felt so at peace lying next to him. I looked at his face in the early morning light, tracing each curve with my eyes. He really was beautiful. I took one last deep breath, inhaling his scent, before crawling out of bed and going into the bathroom when my bladder made itself known.

I decided to go ahead and jump in the shower since we both had to get ready for work. I had just stepped into the shower and was wetting my hair when I felt a strong pair of arms circle my waist from behind.

"I woke up and you weren't there, " he pouted while kissing the side of my neck.

He pressed up against my back and slid his erection along my ass. Pushing back and rocking my hips into it I said, "Hmm, I'm sorry. Is there _any_ way I can make it up to you?"

Still kissing up and down my neck he said, "I don't know. What did you have in mind?" his voice still sleepy, but he was anything but.

I took the soap and lathering my hands I turned in his arms to face him. While pressing my breasts into his chest I reached around and started at the top of his back, lathering soap down to his ass where I paid it extra attention. I then repeated the steps on his chest. Before I could lather any more of him he took the soap from my hands and pulled my back up against his front, running the bar of soap across each arm, over and around each breast, and then down my abdomen. Using the soap bar he ran circles over my clit and down to my entrance over and over.

"_Eric, please…"_ I begged. He dropped the soap and picked me up turning me to face him. Wrapping my legs around his waist he pressed me against the cold tiles and plunged into me. The heat and friction below contrasted with the cold tiles on my back as the water rained down on both of us causing sensory overload. His mouth attacked mine and I came with no warning, my screams muffled by his kiss, digging my nails into his back where I was sure I left marks.

Eric kept pounding into me and I felt another orgasm building. He lifted me higher and bent down taking my nipple into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around and around before flicking it with his tongue while his hand snaked in between us to mimic his actions over my clit. My next orgasm coiled and sprang up and out pulling Eric's from him.

When our panting had subsided I slid my legs down from Eric's waist while he still held my hips. When it became apparent I could stand on my own he wrapped his arms around me pulling me to him for a kiss. "Well, good morning to you too!"

***sigh* I want to be Sookie. Oh well, if I can get my brain out of the ESN gutter it's currently residing in, I'll start the next chapter. For now? I'm going to go have a cigarette. Ahhhh…**

***boink boink* (Hahahahaha)**


	12. BOLOs, Boyfriends, and Burgers

**A/N: So, I couldn't get my mind out of the ESN gutter and ended up writing and posting the first installment of what I dubbed, "Men In Uniform". The first one features Eric as a NJ State Trooper. I'm working on the second chapter now, which originally was going to be him in a Marine Dress Uniform, but I had to change it to the Army Dress Uniform. You'll see why when you read it, but Marine Eric will be making an appearance at some point. Anyhoo, on with the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them all. I'm just giving them some afternoon delight.**

Chapter 12 – BOLOs, Boyfriends, & Burgers

**EPOV**

_Sookie._ It had only been a few hours since I had last seen her this morning and I was already missing her. I had dropped her off at work after we checked out of the hotel, and I had promised to give her a lift home since she didn't have her car, but that was still hours from now.

God, how she wrapped me around her little finger so quickly, I'll never know.

"Eric!"

Looking up from my desk, my reverie broken, I saw Alcide staring back at me.

"What?"

He rolled his eyes, guessing where my mind had been, and said, "We got a hit from one of the fingerprints found in the van at EEE."

He handed me a printout with a photo. It was the passenger of the van, the one Mott had identified as the guy that had approached him in Bossier City. His name was Victor Madden.

I'd never heard of him, but he had been arrested a few times down in New Orleans for various assaults.

After we placed a few phone calls to the New Orleans PD we found out Madden was an enforcer and gun for hire, but had all but disappeared from New Orleans a couple of years ago and had been off the radar until now.

"Do you want to bet Madden is working for DeCastro?" Alcide asked.

"He must be." I suddenly felt paranoid, "Do you think we should put out a BOLO on him?" I was afraid to let anyone else in on our discovery fearing Madden would get tipped off, like EEE. But, at the same time, Alc and I couldn't be everywhere, and if the patrols knew we were looking for him they might spot him somewhere.

Alcide understood what I was getting at and thought about it before we both decided to just to tell the lieutenant and leave it up to him.

The LT decided that since we had no further information on where Madden could be found, and he had no known ties to the area, he wanted the BOLO issued. Within minutes, every officer was sent Madden's photo along with his involvement in the stolen weapons from Barksdale AFB via a departmental alert sending the images by email, and text messages. He was to be considered armed and dangerous.

An hour later, Alcide and I were going through mug shots trying to identify the driver of the van when Quinn walked up.

I had spoken to Internal Affairs when I had returned to work the Monday after the shooting. Every time an officer discharged their weapon in the line of duty it was mandatory that IA would investigate the incident to determine whether or not the shooting was justified.

When they questioned me about what I had witnessed when Quinn shot Davis, I just answered their questions without offering any additional details.

Did I see Davis raise his weapon? _Yes._

Did Davis' actions and mannerisms indicate he was hostile and/or agitated? _Yes._

Did Davis represent a clear and present danger to any civilians or you and your fellow officers? _Yes._

They had played the recordings of what was said over our radios from that day and had me narrate what I was seeing at that time as it played out.

As much as I couldn't stand Quinn, my memory WAS fuzzy once we got to the actual shooting and I didn't want to jam up a fellow officer over a shitbag like Davis. I'd gone over it so many times in my head I was questioning what I really saw.

I HAD to Alcide what I thought might have happened with Quinn. He was my partner, and when he had stopped by on the Sunday after the shooting, as soon as Sookie was gone he had jumped my shit wanting to know why I didn't attempt to defend myself from Davis. We talked about it for the entire afternoon before deciding since I couldn't DEFINITELY say that I thought Quinn went to fire on Davis first, I would just answer their questions and let the chips fall where they may. Quinn was cleared in the shooting death of Stan Davis.

"Victor Madden, huh?" he asked before continuing on, "I ran into him a couple of times when I was in the New Orleans PD."

"What can you tell us?" Alcide asked, knowing I would just as soon hit him than talk to him.

"Not much. I know he had a rep for being deadly, but I think that's all it was, a rep."

"Any ideas on where he might be hiding out?"

"Not off the top of my head, but I'll make a few phone calls to some guys I know and get back to you." With that, he jogged away calling out to some "Babe" in the hallway.

"I can't stand that fucking guy." Whenever I saw him I wanted to hit him.

"Me neither, but I think you have it worse than me. He wasn't eye fucking MY date."

I glared at Alcide and did my best to suppress the memory of Alcide eye fucking Sookie the first time they met.

Looking at the clock I saw that it was lunch time and decided to pick up something for Sookie and bring it to her since she didn't have her car. I knew there were several places near her building that she could walk to or have it delivered, but I missed her.

I stopped at Lafayette's and got a couple of burgers and lemonade's to go. I was agitated when I left because some waitress with obnoxiously red hair kept bumping into me while I was sitting at the counter waiting for the food.

Once I got to Sookie's building I walked up the stairs to the second floor where her office was located. I ran into her friend Amelia in the hallway.

"Hey _boyfriend_," she chirped out. I knew she was a good friend of Sookie's, so I pushed down my agitation from the waitress earlier.

"Hello Amelia, how are you doing?"

"Not as good as Sookie. You've been doing something _porntastic _to her because she's been floating around the office all day." She quirked her eyebrow up and asked, "Do you have a brother? Or a sister? I'm not picky."

I couldn't help but laugh. She was exactly how Sookie described her.

"Sorry, no. I'm an only child."

Shaking her head she muttered, "Damn."

The DA turned the corner and walked towards us. "Northman," she said, her eyes giving me an appraising look.

"Ravenscroft." I knew Sookie liked her, but she was still the Ice Queen to me.

"What are your intentions with Miss Stackhouse?"

_What? _ "Excuse me?" I asked in disbelief.

"Did I stutter? What are your intentions with Miss Stackhouse?" Her eyes were locked onto mine like she was trying to hypnotize the answer out of me.

"Are you her mother? " _Seriously, WTF?_

"Know this, if your intentions are less than honorable, you WILL be sorry." She looked fierce, and I didn't doubt her at all.

Realizing this was about her wanting to be protective of Sookie took the fight right out of me since I wanted nothing more than to protect her as well.

In a much more pleasant tone I replied, "I assure you, I have only the best of intentions where Sookie is involved. I would never hurt her."

I do believe I may have seen the corners of her mouth twitch up into what could've turned into a smile. But a smile on Ravencroft's lips was the stuff urban legends are made of, like El Chupacabra or the Loch Ness Monster. They MAY exist, but there's no proof.

"Good." Turning to Amelia, she started peppering her with questions about another case she was working, so I left them to continue on to Sookie's office.

As I approached her door I could hear her talking to someone.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" She sounded mad.

"I am talking about you and I Sookie. I already told you I was sorry for my indiscretion, and I forgive you for yours. But this cannot continue. We can sort out our differences, but you need to talk to me."

_Who in the fuck is that?_ It must be the ex she told me about.

I moved to fill the doorway, which was quite easy considering my size, and stood there with my shoulders squared and chest out. I'm sure the testosterone was coming off of me in waves.

His back was to me with his ass perched on Sookie's desk, leaning forward towards her. She was in her chair which she had backed up to the wall as far away from him as she could get.

I guess she'd had enough of what she'd heard because she shot up out of her chair looking like she was about to tell him off when she saw me. Her expression changed instantly from pissed off to happy and relieved.

I strode into the office over to where she stood and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "Hello _lover_. Who's your friend?"

Her "friend" looked like his veins were about to pop right out of his head and his fists were clenched in front of him. Glaring at me he spit out, "Sookie is _MINE!"_

Something was knocking around in my head that he seemed familiar. I studied his features, but nothing stood out. It was weird, sort of like déjà vous, but not. I couldn't put my finger on it.

She lost her mind then. "ENOUGH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU BILL COMPTON! You leave my office this instant and don't come back. Don't talk to me, don't call me, don't come by my home. If there's something relating to work you are to go through Amelia. I mean it, if you contact me again in any way I'm going to Pam and you'll be out of a job."

She seemed like she was done so I felt it was safe to speak up.

"Listen to her Compton. I won't tolerate anyone upsetting her like this." My tone was menacing and I knew it. I meant every word.

He actually had the balls to stand up, trying to intimidate me. "I'm not afraid of you just because you're a _cop._"

I took a step closer to him and my 6' 5" frame towered over his 5' 10" body. Looking down at him I said, "Don't be afraid of me because I'm a cop." Leaning closer I glared into his eyes, "Be afraid because I mean it."

He tried to glare back, but I registered the momentary fear in his eyes before he turned and walked out.

Turning back around to face Sookie I could tell he had her nerves rattled. I walked over and pulled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head.

She wrapped her arms around my waist and nuzzled her head into my chest letting out a deep sigh.

"I don't know what's wrong with him. I've been nothing but one giant bitch to him for over three months. " She hugged me tighter.

In a soothing voice I said, "I can understand where he's coming from to a certain extent." Her head whipped up to look at me, incredulity on her face. "I'm just saying, I would do everything I could to win you back if I were him."

"One, I'm not a prize to be WON. Two…aw hell. He's just six shades of crazy. Looking back now, even if he hadn't cheated, we still wouldn't have worked out in the long run. Maybe we should introduce him to Felicia," she giggled. Hugging me tighter, she kissed my chest. "Enough about him. Do I smell Burgers Lafayette?"

"Yes you do. I can't let you waste away." Leering down at her, "I believe you burned quite a few calories between last night and this morning."

Her blush was in full bloom. I'll never tire of it.

"I suppose you're right." She shut her door and set up our lunch on her desk. When she walked back around her desk I took the opportunity to sit in her chair and pulled her into my lap.

"Now now Detective Northman, don't go getting any _ideas_." She intentionally pushed her ass against my crotch.

"Well then quit _baiting_ me ADA Stackhouse, or else I'll have to _frisk_ you again."

Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes darkened as she recalled the last time she was frisked. My own reminiscing wasn't helping either. Change the subject.

"So we got a hit off one of the fingerprints we collected." God she smelled good.

"Really?" She started wiggling her ass even more.

"Yeah, some guy from New Orleans," I grabbed her hips and rubbed against her. I was going to have blue balls when I left.

She turned around to straddle me in the chair, pulling her skirt up higher to spread her legs out. She wrapped her arms around my neck while she slowly rocked her hips, grinding up and down my, now painful, erection. Leaning forward, her hardened nipples pressed against my chest and she licked the outer edge of my ear, pausing long enough to ask, "What's his name?"

Pushing her chest back some, I leaned forward, burying my face into the v-neck of her blouse and murmured into her cleavage, "Victor Madden."

I trailed my tongue over the top of each breast and then up to her body, biting down lightly where her neck met her shoulder.

She raised herself slightly as she reached down and unbuttoned my pants. "I never heard of him." She pulled the zipper down and my cock jumped out. "What are his priors?" Pulling her skirt up around her waist, she moved her thong aside and impaled herself on me.

I pulled her mouth to mine, each swallowing the other's moans. I don't think I could ever get tired of her. Everything about her was perfect.

She broke our kiss to breathe. "Assaults, " I said as I chewed my way along her jaw towards her ear. I couldn't get enough of her.

I could feel her inner muscles spasming and knew it wouldn't take long before she climaxed. I picked her up and slammed her back down on me while devouring her mouth and we came at the same time, stifling our screams as much as possible in the kiss. Both of us were twitching as we just held on to each other waiting for our bodies to recover.

"I'm going to bring you lunch more often."

_**BOLO – Be On the Look Out, like a "wanted" poster**__._

**Yeah, my mind's still in the gutter. Hope you don't mind! Tomorrow is my day off so hopefully I'll have another chapter done as well as another "Men In Uniform". I can't stop picturing all of the possibilities! YUMMY!**


	13. Charlie Bravo

**A/N: Sorry about the hellacious (for me anyway) delay in between posts. I temporarily "lost" the Law and Order Sookie and Eric at the Arlington National Cemetery (you have to read my other fic to get the joke). I had to re-read this whole story to find them again (I found several typos too!) But, they're back!**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them. I'm just getting them all worked up.**

Chapter 13 – Charlie Bravo

**SPOV**

I can't believe I had sex with Eric in my office, in the middle of the day, with people all around. I don't know what's come over me lately, but I think a lot of it might have to do with the magic that man can work with my body. I've NEVER felt this good, sex NEVER felt this good.

After we ate our lukewarm burgers he left giving me another toe curling kiss before he went back to work. Amelia came through the door ten seconds later.

"What? Were you waiting in the hallway for him to leave?" I asked. I then blushed hoping that wasn't the case because she might have heard what we'd been doing just twenty minutes earlier.

Her eyes scanned over me before asking, "Did Eric have some Sookie nookie for lunch?"

The scarlet red shade that covered my body answered her question.

Laughing at me she said, "Sookie, why are you embarrassed? If I had a man as fine as him I'd keep him chained up to my bed at home and never leave."

Covering my face with my hands I said, "I don't know what's wrong with me. It's like I'm addicted to him."

"So is it just the sex, or do you really like him?"

I dropped my hands from my face answering, "Of course I really like him. It's not just the sex, although the sex IS amazing."

Her eyes narrowed before asking, "Are you falling in love with him?"

Was I? I knew I liked him a whole lot. I didn't want to be with anyone else, and I certainly didn't want him to be with anyone else. I wasn't sure. I had thought I loved Bill at the time, and his betrayal had crushed me. Looking back now I can see that I didn't love him, I just loved the idea of being in love.

I felt much more cautious about giving in to that now. Eric and I hadn't known each other very long and I already cared more about him than I had ever cared about Bill. But could I let myself love him? If I did and he ended up leaving me, I don't think I'd be able to recover.

I just shrugged my shoulders answering, "We haven't known each other that long."

She looked at me as though she didn't believe me saying, "I know Bill did a real number on you, but you can't let what happened with him hold you back from allowing yourself to love again." And with that, she walked back out.

The next few days went by quickly. We didn't get any more leads on DeCastro or Madden. It had become an unspoken routine where Eric and I spent every night together at his place, but I would meet him at the diner for lunch if we were both free. I didn't trust myself to have him alone in my office again.

That Friday after work I stopped by my condo, packed a bag for the weekend and drove over to Eric's to pick him up. We were taking my car since Bubba was coming along and the three of us wouldn't have fit in his corvette.

I was excited that he would be seeing the farmhouse and meeting Jason for the first time. On the drive there I told him stories of our childhood and about Gran and before I knew it we were pulling up the long gravel driveway.

Looking over at him in the passenger seat I smiled saying, "We're here!" We both got out of the car and as soon as Eric let Bubba out of the back seat he took off running around the yard sniffing at everything. While Eric grabbed our bags I unlocked the door and started opening the windows in the kitchen and living room to let some fresh air in.

I had just turned to walk down the hallway to the bedroom when a picture hanging on the wall caught my attention. It was a picture of Gran in the kitchen. She had her apron on and was rolling out a pie crust on a Thanksgiving morning. I'd stood in the doorway quietly watching her when she looked out the window in front of her, lost in thought. I few moments later a smile appeared on her face and I snapped the picture before she turned to see me standing there. When I asked her later what it was that made her smile she said she was just thankful to have such a wonderful family.

I felt Eric's arms wrap around my waist from behind and he rested his chin on top of my head looking at the picture in front of us. "Is that you're Gran?"

"Yes," I answered wistfully. "I really wish you could've met her. She would've loved you."

He kissed the top of my head and said, "I wish I could've met her too. She was a beautiful woman. I can see that you take after her."

Turning in his arms to face him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed him. Pulling away I smiled and said, "You certainly are charming, aren't you? Are you just trying to get on my good side so I'll let you have your way with me?"

He grinned responding, "I was under the impression I was already on your good side." He pulled my hips against his, holding them in place as he rubbed his growing erection against me. Leaning down to my ear he asked in a hoarse whisper, "Am I not _lover_?"

I felt a jolt down below and my nipples pebbled against his chest as I pulled his face back to mine for a kiss while I hooked my arms around his neck and jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist. Eric wasted no time and had my back pressed against the wall devouring my mouth with his while his hands made their way under my shirt. He had just unfastened my bra when the sound of Bubba barking outside broke us out of the lustful trance we were in.

We stayed in the same position until the sound of a car door slamming shut signaled we had unexpected company and the looks on both of our faces showed neither one of us was happy about that. I disentangled myself from around Eric and quickly refastened my bra.

As I heard the screen door opening I quickly stepped in front of him to block our unannounced visitor's view of the raging hard-on Eric was sporting in his pants.

"Hey sis! I saw your car in the driveway when I was driving by." Jason looked back and forth from me to Eric, his eyes narrowing into his big brother frown. I'm sure my face was all splotchy from Eric's 5 o'clock shadow and our lips were swollen from the kissing he had just interrupted.

"Jason!" I ran over and hugged him. Turning to look at Eric I said, "This is my brother Jason. Jason, this is my boyfriend Eric."

Jason looked him over appraisingly while Eric looked put out at being interrupted by my brother. Finally, Eric walked forward with a semi-forced smile and his hand held out in front of him to Jason saying, "Nice to meet you."

As Jason shook his hand he said, "If you hurt my sister, you'll be sorry," before releasing his hand.

A genuine smile came onto Eric's face then. "I would expect nothing less."

Jason seemed to loosen up then as I just shook my head. Turning back to me he said, "So, you guys coming by tomorrow to go through the attic?"

"Yes, if that's still okay with you. You don't have plans do you?"

"Naw. I got some chores to do around the yard. If you want, we can barbecue some steaks out on the deck. You can make Gran's potato salad."

Jason always wanted me to make something of Gran's whenever I was in town. He could grill meat, but that was the extent of his cooking skills.

"Sure Jason. I'll make her apple pie too."

His face lit up when he heard that. "Great! Well, I should get going. I got a date tonight." He waggled his eyebrows. Jason was my brother and I loved him, but he was definitely a man-whore. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd slept with every single woman from here to Shreveport and some that weren't single too.

I just shook my head at him. "Of course you do. Should I call first before coming over tomorrow in case you have company?"

He grinned replying, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." We said our goodbyes and he left.

As I stood looking through the screen door at Jason's truck going down the driveway, I felt Eric's arms wrapping around my waist from behind once again. He leaned down to my ear purring, "So, where were we before I got charlie bravoed by your brother?"

"Charlie bravoed?"

"Mhmm…cock blocked," he explained as he kissed his way from my shoulder to my ear.

I sighed, fighting off the instant lust that overtook my body, and pushed away from him. "We're going to have to pick up where we were with that particular activity later. We need groceries for the next couple of days and I need to get the ingredients for the potato salad and apple pie for tomorrow."

He actually pouted and wasn't amused when I laughed at him for it. He pulled me back up into his arms and held me against the doorframe while laying the mother of all kisses on me, grinding his hips into mine until all thoughts of anything else completely disappeared.

Just as I was about to start stripping him of his clothes he pulled away and walked outside saying, "Okay. I'll get Bubba so we can get going." I stood there stunned wondering what in the hell he was talking about. When he came back in a moment later with Bubba on his heels he chuckled at me. I still hadn't moved from the spot he left me in.

Looking at him I asked, "And what do you call THAT?"

"What? Getting you all worked up and walking away? THAT would be a charlie tango."

I kept looking at him waiting for an explanation before he said, "Cock tease." I let out a huff and stomped away to get my purse earning me full out laughter from him.

I was still in a bad mood when we got in the car, but before I could put it in gear he reached over and kissed me, then whispering in my ear, "I'm sorry. I _promise_ I'll make it up to you when we get back."

I let out an exasperated sigh and drove off thinking _he damn well better make it up to me._

We decided to get dinner before we went shopping so I pulled into Merlotte's Bar and Grill. I had waitressed there over the summers when I was going to college. The owner Sam, always had a thing for me, but I didn't like him in that way. He was always more like a big brother to me.

We walked in hand in hand and as we stood there for a moment looking for an empty booth we were greeted with a chorus of "SOOKIE!" Everyone in the place had turned around to greet us. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to live in a small town where everyone knew you. I hadn't been back to the farmhouse since the Bill break-up and I hadn't left the house while I'd been there. I realized they hadn't seen me in at least six months.

Sporting my trademark blush I raised a hand and said, "Hi." Sam, who had been behind the bar, walked over and gave me a big hug, earning a glare from Eric.

I pulled back saying, "Hey Sam. How've you been?"

I stood there watching the two of them sizing each other up before he replied, "Oh, you know. Same as always. Who's your _friend_?"

Apparently that was Eric's cue to show him what type of _friends _we were because he put his arm around my waist and pulled me up against his side saying, "I'm her _boyfriend_ Eric."

I waited a few more moments until I decided they wouldn't be whiping them out and asking me to fetch a ruler just yet, although I didn't rule it out. "Yes Sam, this is my boyfriend Eric. Eric, this is the owner, Sam."

Neither one of them held out their hand so I told Sam we'd catch up later and dragged Eric to an empty booth. We had just sat down when Mrs. Fortenberry, a friend of Gran's and the town gossip, came over to our table.

She kept her eyes on Eric as she said, "Sookie! Look at you! We haven't seen you in a long time. Who's your fella?"

I grinned staring at her until she finally tore her eyes away from Eric before responding, "Mrs. Fortenberry, this is my boyfriend Eric Northman. Eric, this is my Gran's oldest friend, Mrs. Fortenberry."

She fluffed at her hair and scolded, "Now, Sookie. I'm not THAT old." If I didn't know any better I'd say she was flirting with Eric given that she was batting her eyelashes at him like she was caught in a sandstorm.

Eric must have caught on and put his Mr. Charming skills to work. He took her hand and kissed the top of it saying, "Did you go to school with Sookie? Surely you're not much older than her," he ended with his panty-melting smile.

Her whole face blushed as she giggled, "Oh, you're a keeper, that's for sure." She walked away telling me to keep him in sight or else she was gonna take him home with her.

Laughing I told him, "Oh, you're done for now. Before the night is over every female over the age of 50 in the town of Bon Temps will know your name and want the same treatment when they see you. They'll probably be lined up at the house when we get back."

We ate a quick dinner and headed to the Super WalMart in Monroe where we got everything we needed for the weekend. On the drive back Eric was doing his best to get started making up his earlier 'charlie tango' actions. By the time we pulled up to the house I considered just jumping into the passenger seat with him, but it was too hot.

We hopped out of the car grabbing all of the bags and nearly ran up to the front door with every intention of finishing what we'd started once we got inside. We had just gotten into the kitchen and dropped the bags on the table when he had me pressed up against the refrigerator, both of us trying to get the other out of their clothes when someone rang the doorbell.

We both stopped mid-grope and I panted out, "Good Lord, what now?" Eric looked like he was in pain. I imagined he must have blue balls by now. We straightened our clothes and I went to the front door opening it to find my childhood girlfriend Tara standing there crying. I hadn't seen her in a while, but we still kept in touch. No matter how much time went by, whenever we were together it was as if no time had passed at all. She had been my only real friend growing up.

Taking her into my arms I hugged her asking, "Tara, what's wrong?"

"Oh Sookie, JB and I got into a fight and I walked out. I went to Merlotte's and heard you were in town so I came here. Would it be alright if I stayed here tonight? I stopped and got ice cream so we can stay up all night and bad mouth him." She held up a plastic shopping bag with two gallons of ice cream in it while she hicupped and sniffed the whole time.

Eric and I exchanged looks while I was still hugging her. I tried to express with a look that I really had no choice but to say ok. He rolled his eyes and mouthed the words 'charlie bravo' while pointing at her.

Trying not to laugh I led her into the living room and, after introducing her to Eric, got out the bowls and spoons for our all night trash talk.

**Poor Eric. Anybody out there want to help him out? *holds up hand while jumping up and down yelling PICK ME! PICK ME!***


	14. Feelings

**A/N: I'm sorry for being a complete fail in updating lately. My older son will be graduating from the 8****th**** grade next week, and there's been a ton of stuff going on with that. Who in the hell has an 8****th**** grade formal dance? I didn't, but he did. It was like a *&%$#& prom! (He looked so handsome in his black pinstriped Sean John suit. I called him P. Diddy and Puff Daddy all week long! And his date? Simply STUNNING!) Oh, and was it just me that stopped breathing Sunday night when we were shown ASkars' to-die-for behind on the season premier of True Blood? Sweet Baby Jesus! I must have kept Tivo on pause for a full 5 minutes. *sigh* One last thing…minor angst warning below. This story should be wrapped up in maybe two more chapters, so if you're like me and fret over any angst you might want to wait until it's over to finish reading it. (My stories will always have an HEA.) I have another idea floating around my head for another multi-chapter story, but I want to kick out a couple of more Men In Uniform chapters first. And stare at ASkars backside some more…I love Tivo!**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them all. I just wish I was KBos…**

Chapter 14 – Feelings

**EPOV**

Spending the weekend at Sookie's farmhouse had been great. It was even better once her friend Tara had fallen into a sugar induced coma and we finally got to finish what we had started and stopped all day long. The search of the attic didn't turn up anything helpful, but it was nice being able to see where Sookie had grown up. I also had a good laugh when Bubba's drug training kicked in and he 'alerted' next to a side table drawer in Jason's living room. I wasn't going to say anything, but Sookie was very persistent wanting to know what I was laughing at. I'd never seen her so angry and my laughing didn't help Jason's cause at all, but I couldn't help it. I still found her to be very sexy, even when she was yelling. I admit to having been with a lot of women over the years, too many probably, but I never felt anything close to what I felt being with Sookie.

I loved waking up with her every morning and falling asleep with her in my arms every night. I loved the way she laughed and how her smile always reached her eyes. I loved the way she smelled and the sounds she would make as we made love. I loved the way she hummed to herself when she cooked and how she teared up watching old movies. I even loved the way she had to line up her shoes in perfectly straight line causing me to kick one out of place just to see her glare at me and fix them once more. I loved her. I hoped she felt the same way but a part of me was afraid she didn't and I hadn't said the words yet because I knew I couldn't take the rejection.

I woke up early Monday morning and found myself tangled up in the sheets and completely wrapped up in Sookie's naked body. Her head was resting on my shoulder and she had one arm draped across my chest and one leg hooked around both of mine. I loved watching her while she slept. She was so beautiful and I found watching the rise and fall of her chest as she slumbered soothing. I would stay like this forever with her if I could.

As the darkened sky started to lighten with the rising sun Sookie began to stir. "_Mmm…Eric…yes…right there…" _I had discovered early on that she sometimes mumbled in her sleep, but I couldn't always make out what it was she was saying. This time, I had no doubt what she was saying and I had a pretty good idea what she was dreaming right now.

My dick sprang to life with her words as she pressed her core against my hip rubbing against me in her sleep. My right hand started trailing up and down her back while my left one ran along her leg that was on top of me from her knee towards her center. _Fuck._ She was already wet.

I slowly turned my body, rolling her over onto her back as her arms fell to each side of her body. I hovered over her nuzzling my face into the crook of her neck and inhaled her sweet scent before trailing wet kisses along her collarbone down to her breasts. I ran my tongue around one dusty pink nipple before taking it into my mouth and flicking it with my tongue while my hand caressed the other.

I felt Sookie's hand come to rest on my head, holding me to her breast, and looked up to see that her eyes were still closed but her lips had parted and her breathing had become heavier. I moved my mouth to her other breast while my hand ran down her stomach to her mound. I suckled at her breast as my fingers ran up and down her slit getting completely coated in her arousal before slipping a finger inside of her. A moan escaped her lips as her hip bucked up into my hand and she gripped my head tighter, weaving her fingers into my hair.

"_Oh Eric…"_ Without stopping I looked up to see Sookie's eyes opened halfway and filled with lust. The feelings she evoked in me were staggering. I could probably come just looking at her. I rubbed my straining cock along her thigh before making my way further down her body. My eyes came upon her glistening folds and as I leaned forward I looked back into her eyes as I lightly licked over her bundle of nerves causing her to gasp and then cry out.

Using her hand that was still holding onto the back of my head she pulled me back to her begging, "_Please baby…"_ I doubt I could deny her anything, but definitely not this. I thrust my tongue inside of her, lapping up everything she had to give while circling her clit with my thumb. She held my head in place as she rode my tongue whimpering and moaning with each lick. When I knew she was teetering right on the edge I sat up on my heels while picking her up and impaled her on my cock. She screamed as she came immediately and wrapped her limbs around me holding on while I held still feeling her inner walls clamping down on me as her orgasm subsided.

I took one of her nipples back into my mouth and held her hips in place as I thrust into her slowly, pulling out until only the tip pressed against her before plunging back in. She wiggled her hips urging me to move faster, but I maintained my rhythm wanting to draw it out as long as possible. She buried her face into my neck licking and sucking wherever her lips touched. As she made her way up to my ear she darted her tongue inside of it before growling out, "Fuck me Eric. I need you to fuck me hard."

_FUCK ME. _I threw her back down onto the bed while I was still inside of her and pumped in and out of her so hard and so fast that I was sure we were going to come out on the other side of the box spring. Her screams and cries of "YES!" over and over propelled me on until we both shouted, climaxing at the same time.

I lay on top of her waiting for my breathing to go back to normal before pulling out and flopping on the bed beside her. I pulled her body back up against mine and she curled right back into me as she had been when I woke up.

I looked into her eyes and I could see the love I had for her mirrored back at me. This was it. I wasn't afraid anymore. I needed to tell her.

As I opened my mouth to say the words my phone rang. The phone was on Sookie's side of the bed and she turned over to see the caller ID.

Picking up the phone, she handed it to me saying, "It's Alcide." She leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose before getting out of bed and going into the bathroom.

Answering the phone, I snapped "What?" I could hear the shower getting turned on. If I hurried I could join her and tell her I loved her.

"Well good morning to you too. Did I interrupt something?"

"Yes, so spit out whatever it is you have to say before I hang up on you."

"One of the patrols spotted Madden a few minutes ago. They chased him into an abandoned warehouse and called for back-up reporting shots fired. We're mobilizing the S.W.A.T. team now, so get your ass in gear." All I heard after that was a dial tone.

Shit. I had no time now. I wasn't going to say 'I love you' for the first time and then run out the door. I decided to tell her later on that evening so we could celebrate properly. I jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on before I poked my head into the bathroom to tell Sookie I was leaving. I gave her brief rundown on what was going on and promised to call her later with the details. I gave her one more quick kiss and flew out the door.

The S.W.A.T. team mobilized and arrived on the scene within 20 minutes. The building was part of an industrial park and had been a manufacturing plant at one time, but had vacant for years. It was surrounded by similar abandoned buildings as well as overgrown weeds and scraps of metal and wooden pallets scattered everywhere. The building itself was well over 20,000 square feet with six separate entrances and its maze-like interior and three separate levels offered Madden plenty of places to hide and fire on anyone approaching.

Team A scaled the warehouse from the outside to enter the building from the top and work their way down while we, Team B, entered from the street level. We cautiously went into the building through the entrance Madden had used and broke up into teams of two once we were inside. Alcide and Clancy paired off and starting sweeping to the left while Chow and I swept to the right. We tried to maintain radio silence to give Madden less of an advantage of hearing us coming only whispering into our mic's when necessary and using hand signals to communicate with each other, but Quinn and the others could watch the live feed from the small fiber optic cameras we wore on our headsets from the command center bus's surveillance monitors.

Chow and I had swept through our half of the first level with no signs of Madden so we took the stairs to start searching on the next level up. Alcide and Clancy came up a minute after us and started on their half of the building. A couple of minutes later I heard movement on the stairs. I signaled to Chow and we quietly descended the stairs while looking for the source of the noise. As we made our way around the back of the building I watched as Chow was pulled into a back hallway. Rushing forward with my gun drawn I cautiously peered around the corner and saw Madden standing behind Chow with his gun held to Chow's temple.

"Drop your gun or your partner here is going to die."

Madden looked so calm and his voice was steady as if we were having a normal conversation. It worried me. I knew this hallway branched off into other rooms and walkways since we had already been through here earlier. I just had to stall until help arrived. He wasn't talking very loud so I didn't know if Alcide or Clancy would be able to hear him from the upper level, but Quinn would be able to see what I was seeing from the camera and relay the information to them.

Keeping my weapon pointed at Madden I said, "Put down your weapon Madden. You know there's no way you can walk away from here. Don't make it worse for yourself by shooting a cop."

Madden actually grinned saying, "We'll see." He must be a fucking psychopath. I kept my attention on Madden but was starting to get worried when I didn't hear any radio traffic from Quinn on what was happening. I was praying my camera feed hadn't gone out when I spotted movement coming up behind Madden. The flicker of my eyes from Madden to behind him caused him to turn slightly to see what I was looking at and I chose that moment to make my move. The angle he had turned caused Chow to block my shot so I leapt forward and to the side to get a better line on Madden, but before I could get my aim on him he fired his gun.

It all happened in slow motion. Blood sprayed out everywhere and Chow dropped to the floor. I continued raising my gun to fire on Madden when I saw Quinn coming up behind him with his gun drawn in front of him. I was dumbfounded when Madden moved passed Quinn and disappeared down another walkway as Quinn kept advancing towards me.

"HE'S GETTING AWAY. WHAT IN THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

With Quinn in front of me I automatically lowered my weapon and knelt by Chow. Half of his skull was missing along with his brain. He was dead. Rage flowed into my veins and as I stood to go after Madden I saw Quinn standing in front of me with his weapon still held out in front of him. I only had a second to register the look of regret in his eyes when he said, "I'm sorry man" and then I heard the gunfire.

I was shocked when it was Quinn that dropped to the floor and not me. He was clutching at his left thigh which was bleeding profusely and I saw Alcide and Clancy come up from behind him with their weapons trained on Quinn.

We left Clancy guarding Quinn and took off in the direction I saw Madden heading yelling into our mic's the location he was last seen going. After a few minutes it was apparent he had gotten away when we came across a back entrance that no one was guarding from the outside.

Command scrambled for the helicopter to come and search by air while Alcide and I rode to the hospital with Quinn. All he kept saying over and over was "I'm sorry" until Alcide finally yelled at him to shut the fuck up. Alcide kept him under guard while the doctor tended to his wound before we transported him back to the station. I was sitting in the hallway with my head in my hands trying to get the picture of Chow's dead body out of my mind when I heard Sookie yelling, "ERIC!"

I looked up and stood to catch her in my arms as she ran to me and buried her head in my chest crying, "I heard one of you were killed, but didn't know who. " All I could do was hold on to her. I couldn't form any words yet.

I looked down as she pulled back from me, pushing my arms away as she shook her head back and forth. "This is the second time in 10 days that you could've been killed."

"But I'm okay," I tried to pull her back into my arms but she pushed me away again. She stared at my chest as she said, "I don't know if I can do this. I don't like feeling this way. I don't know if I can live like this."

_What?_ I felt my knots forming in my stomach. "Sookie, look at me. What are you saying?"

Slowly she raised her eyes to mine and she whispered, "I just don't know. I need time to think." Then she turned and walked away, taking my heart with her.

**I SWEAR I'm working on the next chapter now But at least I gave you lemons! I thought about waiting until I had the whole thing written before posting again, but it's been too long already so this is going up now. Don't forget, I'm a fan of HEA's!**

***doink doink***


	15. Questioning

**A/N: What's this? An update two days in a row? It reminds me of the first 12 chapters of this story. Here's another angst warning. The next chapter will be the final one, and I'll probably have both POV's so there's nothing left unsaid.**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them. I'm just keeping them stubborn.**

Chapter 15 – Questioning

**SPOV**

As soon as I walked back outside of the hospital I broke down in tears again. When I'd heard that an officer had been killed I couldn't breathe. I started to hyperventilate and if Amelia hadn't been there to help me I think I would have passed out. As soon as I filled my lungs with air I took off to my car, not waiting for her to catch up.

I felt my phone vibrate and saw that I had a text from Amelia, _"?"_

I replied back to her, "_It wasn't him. On my way back now. Will explain then._"

It was wishful thinking that I could explain anything. I didn't know what to think, what to feel. When I thought it could've been him that had died, I felt dead inside. The only thing I could cling to was that I didn't know for sure it had been him. And now that I know he's okay, I'm terrified of what I feel for him. Could I let him have that much power over me? Would it be better to end things now before I got in even deeper with him? In the back of my mind I always knew his job was a dangerous one, but could I live with the constant fear that every time I saw him it might be for the last time? He's been a police officer for his entire adult life. I couldn't ask him to choose between me and his career, could I?

I had barely reached the hallway leading to my office when Amelia came running up to me. Hugging me with all of her strength she said, "Oh Sookie! I was so worried! I'm so glad he's okay."

"I told him I needed time to think." The words tumbled out of my mouth before I'd even thought of saying them.

She pulled back to look at me. "What? Think about what?"

"Us."

"What's there to think about? It's obvious to everyone that you're in love with each other."

Now it was my turn to ask the questions. "What?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "You love each other. You should see how you look at each other. If I didn't love you so much it would make me sick, but I'm happy for you. You deserve to be happy."

Do I love him? Am I IN love with him? I stared at her while I contemplated those two questions in my head and vaguely registered seeing Bill standing a little farther down the hallway. No, I definitely was never in love with Bill. But was I in love with Eric? I had been so sure with Bill that I now felt like I had to be absolutely positive before I gave my heart away again.

My phone vibrated pulling me out of my reverie. Looking at the screen I recognized Alcide's number from this morning, which made me feel even worse remembering how happy I'd been just this morning.

"Hi Alcide. What can I do for you?" I noticed my voice sounded monotone, dead. I could tell Amelia noticed too by the look she was giving me.

"Sookie. The doctor's finishing up with Quinn now and then we're going to transport him back to the station. Can you watch the interrogation in case he's willing to make a deal?"

I felt my stomach forming knots at the thought of seeing Eric again so soon. But this was business. I wasn't going to run away from that too. "Sure Alcide. I'll meet you over there."

"Sookie?" He paused and then asked, "Is everything okay? With you and Eric?"

"Why? Did he say something?" I held my breath waiting for him to answer.

"No, not really. I'll see you at the station." And with that he hung up.

Arghhhh. Men! Now I have THAT to worry about on top of Quinn's interview.

"Ames, I have to go to the station to watch Quinn's interrogation. We'll talk later, okay?" I tried to smile at her, but I know it came out more like a grimace. She just patted my back as I walked down the hall to brief Pam. As I walked passed Bill I narrowed my eyes into daggers at him to let him know I was in no mood for his shit. The bastard actually smirked at me.

I poked my head into Pam's office and saw her sitting behind her desk. I knocked before standing just inside the doorway waiting for her to look up. "The detectives are going to interview the cop that let Madden get away within the hour. They want me on hand in case he's willing to make a deal."

Her eyes never left mine, but it was as if she was trying to see through me. "Are you okay Sookie? You seem off."

"I'm fine. It's just been one hell of a morning." Not a lie, at least the second part.

Her eyes narrowed but she let it go. "Fine. Call me when you know what he's got and we'll work something out. He's definitely doing time though. A police officer died. I don't care that he wasn't the one that pulled the trigger."

I nodded and then left to make my way to the station.

XXX

I walked up to the second floor of the police station and as I turned down the hallway that led to the interrogation room I saw Eric and Alcide talking in the hallway. I couldn't help but look right at Eric and when they turned and saw me walking towards them his eyes met mine for the briefest moment before he turned and went into the room. I felt my chest tighten with a palpable pain watching him turn away from me.

Alcide walked towards me and stopped in front of the observation room next to the interrogation room. He looked tense, but I didn't know if it was from whatever Eric had told him, or everything that was going on. I would guess both, but Eric had obviously said _something_ since it was Alcide talking to me and not Eric.

"Why don't you watch what's going on from in here. If you have any questions that we don't cover, write them down and I'll come out and get them from you before we finish the interview."

I just nodded my head and went into the observation room, afraid of what my voice would sound like if I tried to speak.

Looking through the one-way glass I saw Quinn handcuffed to the table as he sat holding his head in his hands. Eric was pacing the floor on the opposite side of the table, but when Alcide walked in he sat down and stared at Quinn. After Alcide read Quinn his Miranda Rights Eric started the questioning.

"Why?" He said nothing else. He just stared at Quinn.

Two full minutes passed by before Quinn sighed and answered, "My sister. She was into the party scene down in New Orleans and did some recreational drugs, but it progressed over time to where she got hooked on the shit and started dealing to get her fix. She ended up stealing a $100,000 from her supplier, skimming both the cash and drugs and got caught."

He looked down into his lap, seemingly unwilling to continue.

They waited for another minute before Alcide pressed, "And? What's your role in this?"

"And, it turns out the person she was unknowingly stealing from was Felipe DeCastro. They snatched her out of New Orleans and Madden paid me a visit. DeCastro offered to let me work off her debt to him by transferring to Shreveport and give him a heads up whenever I had any information and to help out any of his retinue when possible. In return, he would let my sister live."

"Where's your sister now?" Alcide asked.

Quinn actually chuckled. "There in lies the rub. She's 'with' Madden now. She's his girlfriend. I gave up everything to help her, and she's shacked up with the guy that would kill her."

Eric's eyes narrowed. "You're our leak? How did you know we were going to raid EEE?"

"I didn't. DeCastro has other informants besides me. I've only ever dealt with Madden for the most part. I did deal directly with DeCastro when you put the BOLO out on Madden. And I have proof."

Eric exploded. "WHAT? YOU WANT A FUCKING DEAL? CHOW IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" Eric started to reach for Quinn across the table when Alcide pulled him back.

Alcide remained calm asking, "What's your proof?"

"I got nervous when he was set free the last time because I didn't warn him about your investigation. Kinda hard to warn the guy when I had no fucking clue what you were doing. I know you've had his compound under surveillance, but what you don't know is that he has an underground tunnel that leads from the main house to a hunting shack in the woods a mile and a half away. You'd have to know it was there to find it. I went to him after you put out the BOLO because I couldn't get a hold of Victor and I was afraid Frannie was with him. DeCastro won't..."

Eric interrupted him, "Wait, did you just say Frannie? It was your sister that worked at EEE?"

Quinn sighed. "Yes. She worked there, but I don't know all of the ins and outs of what it was she was doing for him. She wouldn't fucking tell me saying she wasn't going to betray her _Master_. He's got her fucking brainwashed."

Alcide looked at Eric to make sure he would be staying in his chair before saying, "You were saying? DeCastro won't what?"

"DeCastro won't talk on the phone at all after what happened the last time. I went through the tunnel to his house and talked to him in person. I recorded the whole thing with one of the hidden cameras we use in Narcotics. He spoke openly about how Madden couldn't be caught because he could be linked to the stolen weapons from Barksdale and he didn't trust him enough to keep his mouth shut if he had no other way out."

Eric shifted in his seat under the watchful eyes of Alcide before asking, "Where's the video now?"

"This is where we make that deal. I've told you what I've got, now you find out what it's going to get me."

Alcide started to stand when Eric asked, "What about Stan Davis?"

Quinn's body immediately tensed up and his head dropped back to his chest. Alcide sat back down waiting for Quinn to respond.

In a voice so low he could barely be heard Quinn admitted, "I killed him. I knew from Frannie that he was ultimately dealing for DeCastro, but I didn't know who he was going to give up. I was worried it was Frannie."

Quinn started to cry then. "I didn't want to do it, but I had to protect her."

Neither Eric nor Alcide had any obvious sympathy for him. Alcide asked, "So what happened this morning at the warehouse with Madden?"

Quinn composed himself, took a deep breath and answered, "We were all watching the surveillance feed in the bus. When I saw you and Chow making your way back downstairs, I pulled the wires for the feed. I told the commander I was going to go in to give you two back-up and went around to the rear entrance. I told the patrolman waiting there that he was needed in the front and I would cover the door. Madden already had Chow when I saw him, but I didn't know he was going to kill him."

Eric stared at him absorbing it all. "Were you going to kill me?"

I felt my chest tighten and my breath hitched in my throat waiting for Quinn's answer.

Quinn looked Eric in the eye responding, "I don't know. Probably. I could've claimed I hit you when I tried to shoot Madden."

I felt my nails digging into my palms before I realized each of my hands were balled up into tight fists. I watched as Alcide leaned over to Eric and whispered something before Eric just shook his head and turned back to look at Quinn. Alcide stood up and left the room only to walk into the observation room a moment later.

We both just looked at each other still absorbing everything Quinn had just told us. I finally broke the spell.

"He gets to live. That's his deal. We won't seek the death penalty, but he'll never be a free man again." I meant it too and I had no doubt that Pam would be on board with that statement.

Alcide looked relieved. I don't know what he expected. I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to sleep at night knowing that monster would one day walk free. He was going to kill Eric. I felt my anger start to flare and quickly tried to reign it in.

Alcide walked back into the interrogation room and told Quinn what his options were. It didn't take long for him to agree.

"I deserve whatever I get." He sat there in thought before adding, "But, like I said, DeCastro has a lot of informants. I don't even know if I'm the only one on the force, so you might want to think about that when you go to lock me up tonight. I might not make it until tomorrow."

_Fuck!_ He was right. We couldn't leave him at the jailhouse, even if they put him in solitary confinement. One of the guards could be on DeCastro's payroll too. We couldn't trust anyone.

Except, each other.

I knocked on the window getting their attention. Alcide stood up and came back into the observation room.

"Quinn's right. We can't trust anyone at this point. We need to keep him in a safe-house until the trial, but we can't bring anyone else in on where he's at until we can convene the grand jury to get DeCastro indicted." Thinking to myself I added, "The earliest that's going to be is on Thursday."

Alcide stood there thinking for a moment. "I know a place outside of town. My father had a cabin on the lake that he used for fishing. When he died he left it to me. Eric and I are the only ones that know about it. We can switch off watching him until then. Run it by the DA and have her get the ok from the Chief and the LT."

He walked back into the interrogation room while I got Pam on the phone. She agreed to it all and said the Chief and LT wouldn't be a problem. She didn't even want to know where we were keeping Quinn until then.

After Alcide told them what arrangements we were making he asked, "So, where's the video of DeCastro?"

"It's in a safety deposit box at the bank. Inside my locker, there's a picture taped to the door of Frannie and me from when we were little kids. I was her whole world then." He shook his head trying to clear the tears that had welled up in his eyes. "Behind the picture is a key to the box. I told the Captain where it was and if I ever died it was where my 'Last Will and Testament' was. I wrote down everything I've done for them from the start, adding to it as time when on. I put the video in there too. It was the only thing that kept me going knowing that if I died they would get what's coming to them."

Alcide left the room and came into the observation room a few minutes later carrying the picture and a key. "Son of a bitch was telling the truth. I think we should get him outta here now. I think you should hang onto the key and we should leave everything there until Thursday. We already have his confession, that's just an added bonus to lend credence to his story but it's good to have if something did happen to him before then."

"Agreed. So are you guys going to go to the cabin now?" I realized I was stalling wanting the extra few moments to be able to look at Eric.

Alcide looked inquisitive. "Yeah, unless you have any other questions for him?"

_Does he love me?_ "Um, no, I guess you covered it all."

I stood in the doorway as Alcide and Eric walked out with a handcuffed Quinn in tow. Eric didn't even look over at me as they made their way down the hallway disappearing around the corner. I practically ran from the building before the tears had a chance to fall down my face.

XXX

On Wednesday night I was curled up on my couch listening to my iPod. I'd moved through the last two days in a haze. I couldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. Amelia tried getting me to talk about it but I just couldn't. I hadn't heard from Eric at all. I could only guess he was giving me my time to think. I didn't realize I'd become so accustomed to sleeping next to Eric that I tossed and turned every night without him. Every time I closed my eyes I'd see him staring back at me. Sometimes his eyes were bright and sparkled. Other times they were cold and hard. Either way it felt like a stab to my chest.

Chow's funeral had been earlier that morning and seeing Eric there wearing his dress uniform was like opening a new wound remembering how perfect everything was that last time he had worn it. The only difference was the black band that wrapped around his detective shield. I tried not to stare at him, but I couldn't help it most of the time. It killed me to watch him standing at attention with silent tears streaming down his face when the bagpipes started to play.

It killed me even more when he never looked over to me at all.

I let myself wallow in misery and self doubt as a new song started to play.

_I miss those blue eyes_

_How you kiss me at night_

_I miss the way we sleep_

_Like there's no sunrise_

_Like the taste of your smile_

_I miss the way we breathe_

The tears started again as I listened to Colbie Caillat sing about my heartache like she was here reading my mind.

_But I never told you_

_What I should have said_

_No, I never told you_

_I just held it in_

_And now,_

_I miss everything about you_

_Can't believe that I still want you_

_And after all the things we've been through_

_I miss everything about you_

_Without you_

We had been through a lot in a short amount of time. And God knows that I miss him. Should I give in to my feelings? Could I give in? What if he doesn't feel the same?

_I see your blue eyes_

_Every time I close mine_

_You make it hard to see_

_Where I belong to_

_When I'm not around you_

_It's like I'm alone with me_

_But I never told you_

_What I should have said_

_No, I never told you_

_I just held it in_

I am holding it in. I know I am. I love him so much it hurts. But what if he doesn't love me back?

_And now,_

_I miss everything about you_

_Can't believe that I still want you_

_And after all the things we've been through_

_I miss everything about you_

_Without you_

_But I never told you_

_What I should have said_

_No, I never told you_

_I just held it in_

_And now,_

_I miss everything about you_

_Can't believe that I still want you_

_And after all the things we've been through_

_I miss everything about you_

_Without you_

I sat up when the song ended. The realization finally dawned on me. I am in love with Eric Northman. And I need to tell him. Even if he doesn't love me back, I have to tell him. If something awful happened to either one of us he had to know how I truly felt. That I was in love with him.

I jumped off the couch with more energy than I'd had in the last few days excited that I was going to see him and tell him. I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning at the Grand Jury. I had to tell him now.

I slipped on some shoes and grabbed my keys. Throwing open my front door I jumped at the person unexpectedly standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Then everything went black.

**Don't hate me! You wouldn't hit a girl with glasses would you? (Technically contacts, but you get the point.) So, only one more chapter left. I'll do my best to get it out tomorrow. If not, definitely by Friday because it's my day off. Feel free to bitch me out via the blue button below!**

***doink doink***


	16. Declarations

**A/N: Well here it is, the final chapter. *sniffle* I'm going to miss these two since they were my first, but I might resurrect them later on if I come up with another plot, or I may do some outtakes if an idea hits me. One of you suggested Sookie getting pregnant to which I replied I'd have to call it 'Law & Order Shreveport, OB/GYN'. Hahahaha… Prepare yourselves, this chapter is bit longer than the others. I probably should have split it up into two chapters but I figured you all might come after me with pitchforks if I left you hanging one more time. **** See you on the flip side!**

**DISCLAIMER: Charlaine Harris owns them all. I'm just gonna have a hard time letting them go.**

Chapter 16 - Declarations

**EPOV**

As soon as Sookie walked out of sight I fell into the chair feeling like I was just punched in the gut. How could she walk away? Was I wrong about her? About us? Didn't she love me too?

I was lost in my own thoughts when I heard Alcide walking over to me. "The doc's finishing up with the shitbag now. Do you want to call Sookie and have her meet us at the station?"

_Do I want to call Sookie? NO! I DON'T want to call Sookie. Sookie needs time to fucking think about whether or not she's going to crush every hope and dream I'd had for the two of us._ After everything that happened this morning I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. I had to cut myself off from feeling any of it if I was going to be able to function.

"No."

Alcide looked at me questioning, "No? 'No' you don't want to call her, or 'No' you don't want her to meet us at the station?"

"No, I don't want to call her. You do it." I gave him her cell phone number and walked into the exam room to avoid any more questions.

When I saw her later at the station I couldn't look at her. I had to force myself to not think about her because I was afraid of what I might do or say. I bounced back and forth between feeling hurt and feeling angry. At least I could direct my anger at Quinn.

I could tell on the ride to the cabin that Alcide wanted to ask me what was wrong, but thankfully he didn't. He offered to watch Quinn until the following morning so I could go home and make sure Bubba had enough food and water left out. When I walked into the bedroom I saw that Sookie had made the bed before she left that morning. The same bed we'd just made love in a few hours ago. I started taking my clothes off to take a shower, but when I walked into the closet to throw them in the hamper I saw that she had lined up my shoes. In a perfect row. I couldn't help it. I leaned against the doorway and slid down to the floor trying to stop the tears from flowing down my face wondering _what am I going to do now?_

The next two days dragged on and on. The only bright side was that nothing in the cabin reminded me of Sookie. I knew if I had stayed at home I would've had a harder time dealing with it all. There was no cell phone reception where we were so I didn't have to worry about checking my phone every five minutes like I knew I would have otherwise. When Alcide had left to get take-out for us on Tuesday he came back saying that Sookie had sent him a text wanting us to be at the courthouse with Quinn at 8 a.m. Thursday morning so they could go over his testimony before going into the grand jury. When I left for Chow's funeral the following morning I watched my cell phone as the bars started coming back indicating I had service again. I was crushed when I didn't have any voicemails or text messages waiting.

At the funeral I caught a glimpse of Sookie here and there, but I made it a point to not look at her. I already felt bad enough and I didn't want to see her not looking at me. Not caring about me. Not loving me. I was so consumed thinking about how much I missed her and feeling the overwhelming ache in my chest that I couldn't stop the tears from flowing when the bagpipes started to play.

That night, Alcide and I sat on the porch having a beer after Quinn was down for the night.

Alcide looked at me hard asking, "So, what's going on?"

I pretended I didn't know what he was talking about. "I'm drinking a beer. That's what's going on." I hoped I would get away with avoiding this topic all together but he was having none of it.

"You know what I'm talking about. What's going on with you and Sookie?"

I sighed. "I don't know what's going on with me and Sookie. At the hospital, she was upset at all of my recent near-death experiences and said she needed time to think. About us. Then she walked out the door without ever looking back."

"What's there to think about? I've known you since you were a wet-behind-the-ears rookie. You're in love with her. I don't know her that well, but judging from the way she looks at you I'd say she was in love with you too."

"I thought so too. I almost told her that I loved her right before you called the morning of the shooting. I guess, in hindsight, it was a good thing I didn't get the chance."

Alcide's expression changed to one of incredulity. "Are you kidding me? You should have told her you loved her. Maybe THAT'S what she's thinking about. We're in high stress, dangerous careers. It's a lot for another person to get attached to someone like us. If she doesn't know how you feel about her it would make sense for her to try to protect herself by backing off."

_How could she not know that I love her? Is that all this is? She's protecting herself?_ Alcide sat there quietly letting me work it all through my head. "Do you really think that's all she's doing? Protecting herself?"

"Yes dipshit. The way you two looked at each other the night of the chief's retirement was fucking sickening. Maria-Starr kept saying how '_beautiful they are together'_ and '_I hope someday someone looks at me that way.'_ You two ruined my whole fucking evening."

Huh. "So Dear Abby, what do you think I should do?"

"Just tell her. Then the ball's in her court." He stood up and went back into the cabin leaving me there on the porch by myself.

I started getting worried over the twinges of hope I could feel fluttering inside of me. If it was something as simple as me telling her I loved her to fix this I would hire an airplane to fly over the city towing a banner declaring my love for Sookie Stackhouse for the entire world to see. I'd shout it from the rooftops. I'd take out a full page ad in the newspaper. I, Eric Northman, am in love with Sookie Stackhouse. No one would be left out of the loop, especially her.

I went inside finally feeling better about us for the first time in days.

XXX

I made Alcide and Quinn get up and get ready early Thursday morning so we could get to the courthouse about 20 minutes before the 8 a.m. meeting. I knew Sookie was usually early to work and I wanted to get a chance to talk to her before she had to talk to Quinn.

At 10 minutes to 8 Pam Ravenscroft walked up to us and directed us to a conference room. I was starting to wonder whether or not Sookie was coming to the hearing. The DA used the time to read over Quinn's statement, but as the time crept on she looked at her watch. It was 8:05.

She looked at me asking, "Do you know what's keeping Sookie this morning? She's never late."

She WAS supposed to be here. "No, I haven't talked to her in a couple of days. I've been with him," and I nodded towards Quinn.

Pam picked up her phone and punched in a number. Her eyebrows furrowed and she said, "Her phone went straight to voicemail. She normally has it on all of the time." I was starting to get nervous. In all of the time I'd spent with Sookie she ALWAYS had her phone on and even carried around spare batteries so it was always charged.

Pam punched in another number. "Amelia. Have you seen Sookie this morning? Check her office. No, she's not here. I tried, it went straight to voicemail." She paused and then said, "Okay, call me once you get there." She hung up and then spoke to us.

"Amelia is going to check her condo and call me once she gets there. I don't know where she could be." She sat there thinking before her eyes turned hard and she glared at me saying, "This doesn't have something to do with YOU does it? I'd be hard pressed to believe that Sookie would let anything going on between the two of you effect her duties as the ADA, but I can't think of any other reason she wouldn't be here right now."

"No." It didn't sound very believable, even to me. She arched her eyebrow like her bullshit meter was going off. "We had a misunderstanding. I think. But she wouldn't not show up because of it."

She continued to glare at me in silence until her phone rang. She held the phone to her ear and said, "Ravenscroft." I watched as her eyes got big and she gasped putting her hand on her chest.

"WHAT?" I yelled jumping out of the chair.

"No, don't touch anything. Wait there for the police. I'm on my way." She looked at me with tears in her eyes saying, "When Amelia got to her condo she noticed Sookie's car was in the parking lot. When Sookie didn't answer her door she let herself in using the key Sookie gave her and found everything scattered everywhere. Her purse and keys are there. She said there's a pool of blood just inside the door."

My heart stopped. I flew out of the courthouse and sped to Sookie's place getting there in less than 5 minutes. Amelia was waiting just outside her door crying. As soon as she saw me she started shrieking.

"SHE'S NOT HERE! SOMEONE TOOK HER! THEY HURT HER!" I put my arm around her as she cried choking sobs into my chest and peered into the doorway.

There was a dried up pool of blood just inside the doorway about 8 inches in diameter. Nowhere near enough for her to have bled out, but I would've considered a drop of blood too much. I would bring down whoever had done this in the most painful way possible.

A few black and whites showed up a minute later and I left Amelia with them. I slipped on a pair of latex gloves and carefully stepped over the blood noticing her keys were lying on the floor by the doorway and walked further into the condo. Someone had gone through everything in the place leaving upturned couch cushions and papers scattered everywhere.

"Oh my God." I turned to see Alcide walking in behind me. "This isn't good."

I had no response. My brain was only capable of thinking 'FIND SOOKIE NOW! KILL THE BASTARD THAT DID THIS TO HER!' I walked through the other rooms, finding each one ransacked like the rest. I felt a stab in my chest when I saw her perfect row of shoes had been scattered. I had to stop myself from fixing them knowing we had to wait for the forensics team to go through everything.

I turned to Alcide saying, "Can you go see if any of her neighbors are home? We need to know when the last time was anyone saw her. Call tech and have them dump her home and cell phone records." _We have to find her._

I walked out of Sookie's condo to talk to Amelia and saw Pam had already shown up too. I asked them both, "When was the last time either of you saw or talked to Sookie?"

Pam answered first. "I saw her in her office when I left last night around 7 o'clock. She said she'd see me in the morning." She kept shaking her head like she couldn't believe this was happening.

Amelia's sobbing had slowed down, but she was still having a hard time breathing. She choked out, "I left at 6 last night and she was in her office. I texted her around 8 to see if she wanted me to come over to talk because she's been so sad lately, but she texted me back nooo…" Her sobs increased and she wasn't able to say anything more. She handed me her phone and I scrolled through her messages. Sookie's actual response had been '_No. I realize now I messed up big time but I'll fix it somehow.' _

She wanted to fix it. She wanted me. I would give anything in the world right now just to have her safe in my arms again.

I walked back into the condo to keep myself from falling apart by looking over everything again. Alcide walked back in while I was looking over everything in the living room. "Only one of her neighbors is home and they said they haven't seen her since yesterday morning."

"What were they looking for?" I wondered out loud. It was obvious they were looking for _something_, but what?

"I assume she had a computer?"

I looked over to her coffee table where her laptop normally sat. The coffee table was now on its side, but after looking all around I could tell that it was gone. I pointed at the table saying, "Her laptop was normally here. Her briefcase appears to be missing too." It wasn't a typical briefcase, but a large leather bag with handles she could throw over her shoulder like a purse. I teased her calling it her 'Mary Poppins' bag because that's what it reminded me of.

I noticed her cordless phone lying on the table and I wandered over and picked it up. I checked her caller ID, but it had been cleared. When I hit the redial button it showed my cell phone number. The last time she called me was the Friday we left for Bon Temps. We'd been together every day since then up until Monday. I hoped to God she hadn't tried to call me last night and I didn't have a fucking signal at the cabin. I threw the phone down on the couch frustrated thinking that was a possibility.

I then felt a twinge of guilt for throwing her phone, so I picked it up and put it into its charging station next to the answering machine. It wasn't blinking that she had any new messages, but it showed a few older ones that hadn't been deleted yet. I pressed the button and listened. The first few were from Amelia and the time and date stamp was from a couple of weeks ago. Another one was a telemarketer. The next one caught my attention.

"_Sookie. I saw you on the news tonight fawning all over some cop. What is the meaning of this? You are mine. I will stop by later on so we can discuss your actions." _The date indicated it was the day I got shot.

Alcide's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Who in the hell is that?"

"Bill, her ex." Something was nagging at me. I played the message again. When it was through I told Alcide, "There's something bugging me about this."

He responded, "Well yeah. It would bug me too if my girlfriend was getting messages like that from some asshat."

That's it. The asshat. I played it again saying, "Listen. It's him. The ASSHAT that called DeCastro. It's her ex, Bill."

I could tell when it clicked for him too. "SON OF A BITCH!"

I ran back outside with Alcide on my heels to Pam. I pulled her away from everyone else feeling even more paranoid of the people around us. I told her, "It's Bill, Sookie's ex."

She looked interested, but said, "I know he's a complete dick, but do you really think he would've kidnapped Sookie? Why would he? They've been broken up for months."

"You're not getting it. BILL is the one we have on tape that called DeCastro about the weapons at Barksdale. It was his phone call that got us the first warrant. I didn't put it together when I met him in Sookie's office, but he left a message on her answering machine. I'd know that recorded voice anywhere."

"Shit!" She immediately called her office only to find out Bill hadn't shown up to work today. We bolted from Sookie's condo over to Bill's apartment kicking in the door once we got there. It was empty. No furniture, no nothing.

I dropped my head into my hands yelling, "FUCK!" I kept pacing because I couldn't hold still and my actions briefly reminded me of Quinn. Then it hit me. Maybe he took her to DeCastro's. I looked up at Alcide asking, "What did you do with Quinn?"

"I left him with Clancy. I don't think we have to worry about him letting Quinn go. I'm more worried that he's gonna shoot the fucker over Chow."

"We need to find out where that tunnel access is to DeCastro's compound. He must've taken her there. He's working for him directly if he's calling DeCastro himself."

Alcide got Clancy on the phone and we lucked out that Quinn had memorized the GPS coordinates to the hunting shack. I punched them into mine and we took off.

DeCastro's compound was on the outskirts of Shreveport. Quinn told Clancy there was an dirt trail off of the highway in between mile markers 11 and 12 on the northbound lane. The brush was somewhat overgrown, but after slowing down some I spotted it and we turned down the lane. It was narrow and we had to drive slower so we wouldn't hit any of the trees on either side. It was obvious that it didn't get a lot of use by the looks of it, but it did appear to have been used recently by the broken branches I'd noticed that were still green and leaking moisture. If they'd been older than a week ago the breaks would've dried up and turned brown already.

I felt like we were driving forever when we rounded a bend and came to a stop. Just ahead of us was a car that matched the description Compton's car that we'd gotten from Pam and Amelia. Next to it was a dilapidated shack. It looked like a strong breeze would've knocked it down.

We got out of the car and cautiously walked up to his car with our guns out. The sun barely peaked through the canopy of trees and I knew it would be impossible to spot it from the air. I looked into the car and saw that it was empty but there were lines on the ground in the fallen leaves that looked like something or someone had been dragged from the trunk of the car and into the shack. There was blood smeared on the rear bumper. My stomach dropped. _Sookie._

We swept our way into the shack, but it was immediately apparent it was empty. The interior consisted of a wooden bench and a couple of camping lanterns sitting on the wooden floor. We went to the back left corner to look for the knot in the wood that Quinn said would be there. Finding it, I hooked my finger inside and pulled up a hidden trapdoor revealing a fixed ladder straight down into the darkness.

Alcide ran back to his car to get flashlights out of the trunk and we made our way down. We moved at a pretty fast clip shining the lights down only a few feet in front of us, practically jogging, but quietly enough that we would be able to hear any noises ahead of us. Going through it reminded me of the Underground Railroad used by the slaves to escape to the north. The walls and ceiling were carved out of the earth and reinforced every ten feet or so by wooden beams. It was maybe 6 feet wide by 6 feet tall, so we had to duck down as we ran. It took us only a few minutes to reach the end.

According to Quinn the tunnel opened up into DeCastro's basement. Actually he called it a dungeon. There was a cipher lock on the doorknob. It had buttons numbered 1 to 5 and you had to put in the right combination to get it to open. Trying the code Quinn gave us, I internally breathed a sigh of relief when it actually worked.

I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open just a hair. I listened for a moment and couldn't hear anyone so we opened it farther and went inside. The door opened into a wine cellar and once we were in I could see that from the inside the door would've been hidden behind a large tapestry hanging on the wall. We swept our way around the room and went into the hallway. We could hear voices farther down and as we got closer I peered around the corner. What I saw and heard made me sick.

XXX

**SPOV**

I slowly woke up feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. Pain was throbbing in my head with every beat of my heart and it felt like it weighed a hundred pounds sitting on top of my shoulders. I tried to move my arms and legs, but couldn't. Ugh.

"_It looks like she's coming around."_

Huh? Who's that? I tried to open my eyes but they felt like they were glued shut. Eventually, I got my right eye open all of the way, and then my left eye open halfway. I was blinded by the light at first and quickly shut them again, opening them slower this time giving my eyes time to adjust.

I saw that I was in some sort of room made of cinderblocks. The floor was concrete and there weren't any windows that I could see. There was a bright light bulb hanging from a cable attached to the ceiling, like the type mechanics use under the hood of a car.

Standing directly in front of me was Felipe DeCastro. I'd seen pictures of him and I was in the courtroom the last time he was indicted. He wasn't a bad looking man standing at around 5'9" tall with a lean build and olive skin tone. His black hair had started to turn gray around his temples giving him a distinguished gentleman look. He always wore a custom made suit looking like the perfectly polished business man. But now? He was wearing a black button down shirt with black slacks, and an honest-to-God black cape with a red satin lining attached at the base of his neck that hung down past his waist. _WTF?_ Is he Zorro? I looked him over and didn't see the mask or sword on him so maybe he was only wearing part of the costume?

"Miss Stackhouse. Welcome to my home." He held his arms out to his sides in a gesture of southern hospitality. _Seriously, WTF? _I looked down to see that I was tied to a straight back chair with my arms bound behind me and my legs tied at the ankle to the front legs of the chair. There were splatters of dried blood on my shirt and pants.

A movement to his right caught my attention and I saw Bill leaning against the wall next to the door. Seeing his face triggered my last memories before waking up in this room. He was standing at my door when I opened it to go see Eric. _Oh my God! Eric!_ I remember seeing Bill raising his right hand but nothing after that. I could surmise what must have happened by the blood spatters on my clothes and the throbbing pain in my head.

I looked back at DeCastro. "Where am I? What do you want with me?"

"You're at my home. Bill was kind enough to bring you to me as a tribute for his previous transgressions."

"What are you talking about?"

DeCastro looked to Bill and said, "Why don't you explain? I'm sure she'd rather hear it from you." His face seemed predatorily eager waiting for Bill to explain.

I looked over at Bill and saw a look of superiority come across his face. "Sookie, Sookie, Sookie. So naïve. So trusting. You see, I was already working for Mr. DeCastro before I ever stepped foot into the DA's office. I tried to get close to that stupid bitch Ravenscroft, but I don't possess the necessary _equipment _to get her _attention._ Fucking dike. But, there you were. You were close to her, she trusted you, and you were ripe for the picking. So innocent. I couldn't believe my luck. All it took was a few kind words and a little bit of attention and you spread your legs for me. You're first! I only needed to keep you close to get the information I needed, but I thought I would _train_ you in the bedroom to my liking as a _fringe benefit_ for me. I must say, I had high hopes for you, but ultimately you could never be what I truly wanted. I had made an error in judgment when I called Mr. DeCastro to tell him about the shipment of weapons due to arrive at Barksdale. I am paying my penance by offering him you."

I sat there stunned. _He _was the fucking leak. _Everything_ was a lie? _All_ of it? I knew in the back of my mind that I should be hurt by his confession, but all I felt at the moment was _anger._ How DARE he use me like that! I had never been more grateful for Eric's presence in my life than at that very moment. He made me realize what true love is. Without him Bill's confession would have destroyed me. I glared at him and said, "I know EXACTLY how you feel. Now that I'm with a REAL man, I finally know what it's like to be satisfied for once." _Asshole!_

I guess I should have expected it given the stains on my clothes, but I was still shocked when he stepped forward and backhanded me across my mouth. I felt where my teeth had cut into my lip and I could taste the blood in my mouth. I didn't give him the satisfaction of making a sound even if I did want to scream out from the pain.

DeCastro laughed out, "My my, you're a feisty one. So righteous and full of fire. Just like _your father._ You might want to play a little nicer if you don't want to end up like him."

The way he said it made me ask, "What are you talking about? My parents died in a flash flood."

He laughed again while shaking his head. "No, that's not exactly how it happened. Let me tell you a little story. You see, when I was younger I had a girlfriend named Thalia. We were in love and she helped me build my empire from the beginning. I trusted her like no other and she was ruthless like none I had ever seen. My perfect match. Later, I noticed her demeanor had changed. She wasn't as excited about my business and she was brooding all of the time. She finally told me she was pregnant with my child. She wanted me to give up my business saying it was no way to raise a child. Of course I denied her wish. I would not give up my growing empire. I knew I would one day be declared the King and once she was my Queen she would change her mind. Sadly, I was wrong. She became secretive and withdrawn so I had her followed. She was seen approaching your father as he was getting in his car when he left his office for the day. I knew there was only one reason for her to be talking to him. I acted quickly. Decisively. I would not allow her betrayal to stand. I grabbed Thalia as she walked down the street an hour later. I made her admit her betrayal to me. We drove together to your childhood home so I could make her watch as I killed you all, but no one was home. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw his car on the road ahead of us as we drove back to Shreveport. I hit your father's car from behind and pushed it over the bridge into the river. The fact that there was a terrible storm raining down helped as well. I read in the papers he died in an _accident_. You see? The Gods smiled down on me. I am blessed."

I felt like I couldn't breathe. My whole history was just re-written by a crazy drug dealer/gun runner/all-around jack-of-all-crimes. Shreveport's very own version of Kim Jong-il . In the back of my mind I was still in survival mode and knew I couldn't lose it yet. I took a deep breath and asked, "What happened to Thalia?"

He actually looked sad for a minute. Then his expression became one of a predator again. "I killed her. Her betrayal cost her her life. She begged and pleaded for our unborn child, but what would I want it for. It would be half of her and she was no longer worthy of me."

Why is he telling me all of this? My heart sank when I realized that with his confession he had no intention of letting me go. "What is it you want from me?" I was surprised that my voice sounded steady even though I was screaming inside.

"I want John Quinn. Even with my many spies throughout the city you've kept him hidden from me. You're a worthier adversary than I initially thought. And I've seen his statement to the police. I want the video he has. It's not in the custody of the police. I can only think you must have it hidden away. It makes no difference to me if he testifies to the grand jury this morning. As long as he's gone before the trial I have nothing to worry about. I will find a way to get Quinn and once I've destroyed the video my worries are over."

I internally jumped for joy. They didn't find my hiding spot at home. After I'd left the police station that day I'd driven all over the city, mostly to make sure I wasn't being followed but also to think about everything going on between Eric and I. I felt ridiculous parking at the mall, walking through it to the other side and taking a cab to the bank but the paranoia over everything going wrong with this case had dug in deep. As of right now, Quinn's letter and video are sealed up in a zip lock bag buried underneath 5 pounds of flour in a pretty ceramic jar on my kitchen counter.

I guess it was time to press my luck. "Why do you think I would have it?"

I barely had time to flinch before I felt the sharp sting of the back of Bill's hand across my face again. "Quit fucking around and tell us where it is. We're the ones asking the questions, not you."

The look in Bill's eyes was unnatural, like a monster. There was no hint of the man I'd once _thought_ I'd known. I didn't know _this _man. But, I had no doubt _this_ man would kill me. I closed my eyes and thought of Eric as hard as I could focusing on all of the love I had for him and mentally pushing it out into the universe hoping he would feel it somehow. It was the most I could give him now. I knew my time left in this world was very limited and there would be no spoken declarations of love. I was a fool to ever doubt it.

Another sharp blow to the side of my body brought me out of my thoughts. I couldn't help crying out in pain.

"I can do this all day little girl. The question is can you?" I never hated him more than I did right now.

"Bill," DeCastro interjected, "maybe you're using the wrong type of persuasion. This one is still too strong in spirit. You have to break that before you can break her."

DeCastro walked closer leering down at me. He gave Bill a pointed look before looking back at me. He made sure I was watching him as he slowly unclasped his belt and pulled it free from the loops of his pants. Any hopes I had that he was just going to beat me with his belt disappeared when he dropped it to the floor and started opening the button on his pants.

I gasped out loud and started shaking my head back and forth furiously. They wouldn't. I couldn't let myself believe I was about to be raped.

DeCastro went no further and just stood there watching my reaction. Bill decided to add to my horror. "Yes, she needs to be broken. It might take BOTH of us to do it." He was standing close enough that he was able to press himself against my upper arm and I could feel he was already hard.

I knew if I had eaten anything within the last few days I would've lost it all at that very moment. I yelled out, "GET AWAY FROM ME!" and swung the only part of my body that wasn't restrained. My head made a direct hit to his crotch and he hissed in pain falling back a few steps. He was back on me in another few seconds pulling my head back by my hair and he now had a knife pressed against my throat.

"You fucking bitch. I'll enjoy draining you of every last drop of blood you have." I felt him press the tip of the blade into my skin and the trickle of wetness rolling down my neck. I cringed and strained my neck away from him. The odd angle of my head allowed me to see just the bottom left corner of the open doorway. And for a moment, I thought I saw Eric's face. It looked haunted. I was afraid to blink and lose my wonderful vision of him, but Bill yanked my head back towards him once more.

And then, I heard the most glorious sound. "DROP YOUR WEAPON! I'M WARNING YOU, PUT YOUR HANDS UP RIGHT NOW AND GET AWAY FROM HER!" _Eric._

When I felt the blade start to push back into my throat again I thought maybe I was hallucinating and Eric really wasn't here. Then I heard the gunshot.

I saw Bill drop to the floor and suddenly my head wasn't being pulled back anymore. Before I could straighten up again Eric was holding me head gently between his hands and I got to look into those beautiful blue eyes once more. He had tears falling down his face and he looked just as relieved as I now felt.

"I love you Eric." I felt a weight lift from me that I didn't even know I was carrying.

He leaned forward placing his lips gently onto mine saying, "I love you too Sookie. I was so afraid I was going to lose you. I can't lose you."

XXX

The next few hours were a flurry of activity. Bill was dead. Eric had shot him in the head. DeCastro was finally in custody and I could've sworn every police officer in the department was at his house. Pam and Amelia showed up at the hospital where I was getting checked out. Between Eric and I we filled them in on everything that had happened and I promised to go to the police station to give my statement the next day. The x-rays came back normal and 5 stitches to the side of my head and a bottle full of pain killers later, I was finally released.

Eric hadn't taken his hand off of me at all since he first touched me at DeCastro's house. It was like he was afraid I would disappear if he wasn't holding on to me. If he wasn't holding my hand, he was kissing the top of my head, or placing his palm on the small of my back. I knew how he felt. He took me back to his house and carried me inside. We hadn't been talking much, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was almost as if we were just absorbing the warmth of the other's presence. He gingerly placed me on his bed and went into the bathroom to fill the bathtub. He came back out and carefully stripped me of my clothes. His eyes narrowed when he saw the bruises forming where Bill had punched me earlier.

I reached out to touch his cheek and whispered, "I'm okay." I really was, in every way imaginable. He just nodded and picked me up carrying me to the bathroom and then placing me into the warm water. He washed me from head to toe using the lightest of touches whenever he got near one of my many bumps and bruises. I remembered doing the same for him just two weeks earlier. _Two weeks. _It seemed like a lifetime ago. The old Sookie would've said that it all happened too fast and it wasn't enough time to know someone well enough to be in love with them. The new Sookie would tell the old Sookie to shut the hell up. Meeting Eric Northman was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

After Eric drained the tub and dried me off he slipped his black S.W.A.T. t-shirt over my head and carried me back to the bed. After he brought me a couple of my pain pills and a glass of water he climbed into the bed with me and carefully wrapped himself around me.

We laid there staring into each other's eyes for quite a while. I needed to _feel_ him.

"Kiss me."

He leaned forward and lightly brushed my lips with his. My tongue flickered out and traced his lips before he opened them granting me entrance into his mouth. It was a very sweet and tender kiss, but it still managed to ignite the heat between my thighs. I started running my hand up his arm and over his chest where I traced over each of his muscles and then circling my finger over one of his nipples. He gasped into my mouth and I moved my hand up to hold his head in place while I deepened our kiss. His hands started to roam up my arms but then froze once he touched my chest.

He pulled away slightly asking, "Are you sure you want to do this right now? I know you're in pain. We can wait until you're feeling better."

"Actually, those little pills you fed me must contain a lot of magic because I'm feeling only one kind of pain right now." I took his hand from my chest and ran it up my thigh and under the shirt I was wearing to exactly where I wanted him. When he felt how wet I already was he let out a low growl and went back to kissing me while running his fingers up and down my slit. He gently pushed two fingers inside of me while rubbing slow circles over my clit. I reached down and grabbed his rock hard length, stroking it up and down at the same speed he was thrusting his fingers into me. The rhythm of my hand faltered as my first orgasm hit me out of nowhere. I was barely coming down from my climactic high when Eric shifted himself so that he was hovering over me keeping all of his body weight on his arms and legs.

I felt him place his tip at my entrance and as he pushed into me he looked into my eyes and whispered, "I love you Sookie Stackhouse." I felt the tears fall from the corners of my eyes and as I pulled his lips back to mine I whispered, "And I love you Eric Northman" before kissing him with all of the emotion and passion and love of this perfect moment.

**I hope the ending wasn't too sappy and that I covered everything. I kept Victor and Frannie out of the equation in case I need them for a sequel, as well as the outcome of DeCastro's trial. I want to thank everyone that reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story. I appreciate each and every one of you. I'm going to be concentrating on Men In Uniform for the time being before starting another multi-chaptered story. I've had an idea kicking around my brain of Eric as a Navy Seal. YUM! **

***roll credits***


	17. A note

I just wanted to let you all know that I've added a spin-off story of Law and Order Shreveport titled, Law and Order Shreveport – Fast Forward. It's just going to be some one-shots covering some milestones in their lives, but I might resurrect them for another multi-chaptered sequel. I hope you enjoy it!


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